CABBAGES. 59 



frames. This sowing requires some judgment, as it is 

 quite important to have the plants of good size, the better 

 to withstand the winter, and yet they must not be over- 

 large, lest, when planted out in the spring, many of them 

 will run to seed, instead of producing heads. 



About New York the plants are mostly pricked out in 

 the cold-frames by or before the twentieth of Novem- 

 ber. When cold-frames are not used, plants may be had 

 quite early, by sowing the seed in a hot-bed made as de- 

 scribed in the chapter on hot-beds, and using about three 

 inches of earth over the manure. 



But very little heat is required to germinate cabbage seed, 

 and if the bed is very hot, the plants will grow up slim 

 and spindly, hence great pains must be taken to temper 

 the bed before sowing, and give an abundance of air while 

 the plants are growing, whenever the weather will admit 

 of it. The work of airing can not be regulated by any 

 fixed rule, as hot-beds are made at a season of repeated and 

 often sudden changes, and hence they require almost con- 

 stant attention. A thermometer set in the center of a bed 

 should range from fifty to sixty degrees for cabbage- 

 plants. Here we generally sow in hot-beds about the first 

 of March, which gives us plants about the tenth of April ; 

 and I would here remark/that it is much better to sow the 

 seed say six weeks or more in advance of the anticipated 

 time of transplanting, and grow them slowly and strong, 

 than to defer sowing until late, and then have to force them 

 along, thus making them weak and tender, and unable to 

 endure the sudden changes of the spring weather. It is 

 well to remove the sashes entirely from the bed a few 

 days before transplanting, leaving the plants exposed 

 night and day (except in case of very severe cold or heavy 

 storm, when they may be temporarily replaced), and thus 

 harden them off, that the change may not be too great. 

 The surface should be raked level, and the seed sprinkled 

 even and thin, broadcast two ounces being sufficient for 



