CABBAGE. 23 



as well as to render the plant more vigorous in win- 

 ter, that is, to secure good keeping qualities. To 

 that end plants were selected for seed purposes that 

 had thick, smooth and perfectly shaped outer leaves. 

 One grower, whom we will mention as a type 

 of the men who have rendered the country the 

 greatest good in the selection of varieties, had this 

 end constantly in view. For nearly sixty years this 

 man made cabbage his specialty, but not for seed pur- 

 poses. His object was to have the best second early 

 cabbage in market, and to have it in advance of all 

 his competitors. At that time New York and Brook- 

 lyn depended almost wholly for their cabbage upon 

 Long Island and New Jersey, and the whole supply 

 was grown within a radius of fifteen miles from the 

 city hall of New York. Consequently, the man who 

 had the earliest cabbage had the best market, and if 

 he could have a week's sale in advance of his neigh- 

 bors, he was the envy of all others, because his profits 

 were greater than theirs. This man would never 

 sell a seed, and but for his death this strain would 

 never have been sent out, and the truckers would not 

 have had All Head cabbage, which we consider the 

 best Early Flat Dutch cabbage ever sent out. Of 

 this there are already several synonyms, as every 

 dealer feels it a duty to his business to have his own 

 name attached to each variety he sends out, and in 

 a sense he is right, and that sense is his care in selec- 

 tion. No matter how good a type may be, if the 

 same care is not used in perpetuating it, as was given 

 to establish it, deterioration will follow. So when 

 the seedsman gives any variety his special care in 

 selection he has a perfect right to prefix the variety 

 with his own name. 



