322 PLANTING LIST 



Perhaps the most popular cabbages are the Jersey Wakefield, small 

 and early, the Danish Ball-head, large and late, and the Flat Dutch, 

 also large and late. The early varieties will soon split if left in the 

 field, and do not keep well. But to keep even the late cabbages 

 over winter is difficult, unless one has a very cool dry cellar, or can 

 store them in the field out of reach of moisture or frost. Buy only 

 good seed. 



Sow under glass in late March or early April, out of doors in late 

 April and early May. The safest way to raise cabbages, in regions 

 where they are troubled by the maggot (which, hatching from eggs 

 laid by a fly, eats the root) is to sow them in a light frame over 



which cheesecloth has been 



tacked. Never raise the 



frame except when cultivating 



or thinning, and replace it at 



once. Thin the plants to 



three inches apart, and keep 



them under the cloth until 



they are six inches tall. In the 



Fig. 179. — The Cabbage- Worm garden, dwarfs should be fifteen 



Butterfly. inches apart, larger kinds two 



Catch him if you can. » . 



Set the plants (each with a collar to protect from cutworms) in 

 the field in late May or early June. A handful of old manure, or 

 of compost, under each plant, will help greatly. Water well at 

 first, and cultivate carefully at all times. Feed with top-dressing, 

 and if possible with a little nitrate of soda or manure-water every 

 two or three weeks. 



The next danger to the plants is the cabbage worm, a fat green 

 caterpillar almost the color of the leaves. It is hatched from eggs 

 laid by the yellow butterfly; catch and destroy these. As soon 

 as the worms are discovered, pick them off ; or when the first of 

 them are seen sift fresh hellebore on the plants. Or mix an ounce 

 of Paris green with six pounds of flour and apply this lightly, when 

 the dew is on. In such small doses it is not poisonous to man. 



Cut early cabbages as soon as their heads are firm. Cut late 



