HOW TO GROW CABBAGE AND CAULIFLOWER. 149 



They can be left in this way for three or four weeks, 

 or as long as the ground remains so that it can be dug 

 in the alleys between the beds, the soil from which is 

 thrown in on the beds of Cabbage, so that, when finished, 

 they have a covering of six or seven inches of soil, or 

 sufficient to cover the roots completely up. Sometimes 

 they are covered up immediately on being lifted, by plow- 

 ing a furrow, shoveling it out wide enough to receive the 

 heads, then plowing so as to covei up, and so on till beds 

 six or eight feet wide are thus formed. This plan is the 

 quickest, but it has the disadvantage, if the season proves 

 mild, of having the Cabbages covered up too soon by the 

 soil, and hence there is more danger of decay. After 

 the ground is frozen, stable litter, straw, or leaves, to the 

 depth of three or four inches, should be thrown over the 

 Cabbage beds, so as to prevent excessive freezing, and to 

 facilitate the getting at the Cabbages in hard weather. 



INSECTS. 



The insects that attack the Cabbage tribe are various, 

 and for some of them I regret o say that we are almost 

 helpless in arresting their ravages. Young Cabbage 

 plants in fall, or in hot-beds in spring, are often troubled 

 with the Aphis, or, as it is popularly known, the " Green 

 Fly " or " Green Louse." This is easily destroyed by hav- 

 ing the plants dusted over once or twice with tobacco 

 dust. This same insect, of a blue color, is often disas- 

 trous to the growing crop in the field; and on its first 

 appearance, tobacco dust should be applied, as, of course, 

 if the Cabbages are headed up, it could not be used. 



Another insect which attacks them in these stages is a 

 species of slug or small caterpillar; a green, glutinous in- 

 sect, about one-fourth or one-half of an inch in length. 



