32 CABBAGE. 



with the same soil as the bed ; in which case the bed 

 should be shaded with some light brush or any con- 

 venient cloth covering. When the seed leaves are 

 fully developed, give them a slight sprinkling of 

 tobacco dust, whether the flea is in sight or not, and 

 follow it up immediately after a shower, and until 

 the plants have made two or three inner leaves, or 

 are nearly large enough for transplanting. 



By this method Letter plants will be secured 

 than are usually obtainable. But there is a still bet- 

 ter way, which those practice who have cold frames, 

 or hotbeds, in which they start their plants. As soon 

 as the plants have perfected their first leaves, which 

 will be within forty-eight hours after breaking 

 through the ground, they are pricked out into beds 

 prepared in the same way as recommended for the 

 seed bed, in drills one inch apart and half an inch 

 apart in the drills. As soon as these plants have 

 made their second pair of leaves and show plainly 

 the third pair, they are again pricked out, in the 

 same manner as before, only they are set one inch 

 apart in the drills. 



It is a common and very excellent plan to have 

 shallow boxes, usually two and one-half inches in 

 depth, filled with fine, and a little richer, soil than 

 that first used, and prick the plants into these. These 

 boxes are then placed in cold frames where they can 

 be shaded for a day, and protected from cold, drying 

 winds when necessary, which is highly important for 

 early crops. Anyone who has once adopted this 

 method will never go back to the old method of 

 starting plants. The reason is obvious. Plants 

 grown in this manner form a solid mass of roots, 

 instead of one long spindling root, with a few root- 



