84: CABBAGES. 



when other important work is not pressing, we haul 

 out, for Cabbages, from thirty to forty two-horse 

 loads of compost or well-rotted barn-yard manure to 

 the acre, according to the quality of the land. This 

 is thrown in convenient-sized heaps, usually mak- 

 ing four of a wagon-load, in regular lines and dis- 

 tances through the field. It is then spread broad- 

 cast, and ploughed under immediately. 



Under ordinary circumstances, the soil, by this 

 time, will be loose and mellow, and in fine condition 

 for planting. Unless the ground is very rich, I gen- 

 erally apply a top-dressing, before harrowing the last 

 time, of some special compost or concentrated ma- 

 nure, such as superphosphate, finely-ground bone, or 

 fish guano, at the rate of from five hundred to one 

 thousand pounds to the acre. In any case, the 

 special manures are previously mixed with twice 

 their own bulk of soil before application. 



Cabbages will always do better, other conditions 

 being equal, on a clover-sod, than on ground that 

 has been previously cropped. On sod it is better to 

 apply the long manure on the surface, and turn it 

 under. Then top-dress the surface with enough of 

 concentrated manure or compost, to give the plants 

 a good start. The ground is marked both ways be- 

 fore planting, making the rows two feet and a half 

 apart one way and two feet the other. This can be 

 rapidly done with an instrument known to gardeners 

 as a " marker." It is made of a piece of joist ten or 

 twelve feet long, having holes bored every three 

 inches, and a handle about six feet long mortised in 

 the centre of the head, and braced from either side. 



