CABBAGES. 69 



with the early kinds. It may happen that in cutting cab- 

 bages, either early or late, there may be some extra choice 

 heads from which one would desire to grow seed, but 

 from the earliness of the season and the ripeness of the 

 heads it could not be done in the usual form, as they 

 would not keep until spring. To accomplish this, when 

 the said heads are cut, make a mark with the knife across 

 the top of the stump, and afterwards dig all such stumps 

 and heel them in until fall, when they may be bedded the 

 same as heads. This is known as " stump seed," and 

 while no perceptible difference may be seen in the crop 

 grown from it one year only, yet experience has proven 

 that in time it will deteriorate, and the only way to pro- 

 duce prime cabbage-seed is to grow it directly from the 

 head. I never put the beads away where the seed is to 

 grow, as with early cabbage, but prefer to lay them away 

 in a bed. 



The latter part of November chooso a dry piece of 

 ground running north and south ; run a double furrow, 

 throwing up a ridge a foot and a half high. On the east 

 side of the ridge, commencing on the south end, lay the 

 cabbages in a single row, well up to the top of the ridge, 

 and packed close together. While one man is laying 

 them in, another must come behind spading the earth 

 over the roots and stalks, fii-mly treading it down, while 

 still another follows, throwing more dirt over the roots, 

 pressing it firmly with the foot, filling well under the 

 heads with fine soil, covering the root and stalk about six 

 inches, and leaving the earth in the form of a ridge, as in 

 the beginning. This operation is continued until seven 

 rows are in, each row a trifle lower than the preceding 

 one, so that when the whole is complete there may be 

 descent enough to carry off the water. The earth is 

 firmly pressed against the back of the first row, fine soil 

 put in from each side between the rows, sufficient to make 

 the surface even, leaving the tops of the heads exposed. 



