82 GARDEN STEPS 



water, as too much water will have the same effect 

 as crowding. Everything possible must be done to 

 make the plant sturdy. 



Hardening the Yoving Plants. — As the weather 

 will still be cool when the cabbage plants are set 

 in the field, it is necessary to prepare them for their 

 new home. To take plants from a window box, 

 where they have had steam heat and protection 

 from all cold, and put them into the field suddenly, 

 where the night temperature may come danger- 

 ously near the frost line, is rather too much even for 

 cabbages. As the time approaches for setting out, 

 place the window boxes outdoors during the daytime 

 and raise the covers of the cold frame. This will 

 prepare the plant a bit for its new environment and 

 check its tendency to send up long, frail leaves. 



Soil and Cultivation. — To get the best results, 

 the soil for cabbage should be rich and worked over 

 till it is loose and fine. Nothing seems to do quite 

 so well as rotted dairy or stable dressing. If this 

 has been worked into the soil the fall previous, the 

 ground will be made perfect by scattering along 

 the rows a complete commercial fertilizer, two or 

 three pounds to each one hundred feet. If the dress- 

 ing cannot be obtained, use about five pounds of 

 commercial fertilizer to a one-hundred-foot row, and 

 work in well at the time of planting. Then work in 

 two more applications of two or three pounds each 

 while cultivating the growing crop. Be sure that 



