CaBBAGE 1417 
It takes as much fertility out of the soil to raise five tons of 
cabbage per acre as it does to produce twenty bushels of wheat. 
Manure and commercial fertilizer make the best combination. 
Ten tons of manure per acre, six to eight hundredweight of 
10 per cent. phosphoric acid and 8 per cent. potash usually will 
supply enough plant food. If no manure is at hand ten or twelve 
hundredweight of 4-8-10 will answer. This fertilizer is only 
suggestive. No rule can be given for all the varied conditions. 
It takes about one thousand parts of water to make one part of 
commercial fertilizer all available for a plant.. 
If the soil needs lime it is a good plan to apply a dressing to 
the field, since the crop needs a liberal supply. Lime or fertilizer 
should always be applied broadcast. Spreading the fertilizer has 
a strong tendency to spread the root system. This is essential since 
the plant is a gross feeder. 
SPACING AND SETTING PLANTS 
No one can give a definite rule for the proper spacing of cab- 
bage. The distance apart will depend upon whether early or late 
varieties are grown, the fertility of the soil, the size of head 
desired and the moisture supply. It is probably best to raise all 
early cabbage in drills, the plants set from twelve to eighteen 
inches apart in rows thirty to thirty-six inches apart. Domestic 
and Danish need more room. They should be placed from eighteen 
to thirty inches in the row, the rows being thirty-six inches apart. 
Check rowing is practical in some places and meets with ex- 
cellent results, especially if the ground is weedy. This method 
reduces hand labor to a minimum, the only objection being that 
the wide spacing which is generally practical prodnces very large 
heads. Heads weighing from eight to twelve pounds are large 
enough for city trade. The large heads may be avoided if one 
will set closer and use a narrow cultivator when going the narrow 
way. The writer very much prefers the check row method. 
Cabbage setting is more important than most of us think. 
Too often there is a fight for a week or ten days before the 
plants really start to grow. This is caused by spoiling their root 
system or setting in too wet ground. It is hest to loosen the plants 
in the seed bed when taking them up. The more of the root 
