468 : MANUAL OF GARDENING 
It should be more generally known, as it is one of the choicest of 
the cabbage family, and may be had 
at its best after the season for cauli- 
flower has passed. It is the better for 
being touched by the fall frosts. The 
buttons should be cut off rather than 
broken. The very small hard “sprouts” 
or buttons are the best. The culture 
is essentially the same as for late cab- 
bage or broccoli. One ounce will sow 
100 feet of drill, or make upward of 
2000 plants. Set plants in field 2 to 3 
feet apart, or dwarf varieties closer. 
They require the entire season in which 
298. Brussels sprouts. to grow. 
Cabbage. — The cabbage is now so extensively grown as a field crop, 
from which the market is supplied, and the plants require so much 
room that many home-gardeners incline to give up its culture; but 
the early varieties, at least, should be grown at home. 
For an early crop in the North, the plants must be started either in 
February or early March, or the previous September and wintered over 
in coldframes. This latter method was once a common practice by 
gardeners near large cities, but the building of greenhouses to replace 
the many hotbeds of the market-gardener has changed the practice in 
many localities, and now most of the early cabbages in the North are 
grown from seed sown in January, February, or March. The plants are 
hardened off in March and early April and planted out as early as pos- 
sible. The private grower, or one with a small garden, may often 
procure his early plants from the market-gardener much cheaper 
than he can grow them, as usually only a limited number of early 
cabbage plants are wanted; but for the midseason and main crop, the 
seed may be sown in May or June in a seed-bed, setting the plants in 
July. 
The seed-bed should be made mellow and rich. A good border will 
do. The seed is sown preferably in rows, thus allowing thinning of the . 
plants and the pulling of any weeds that germinate. The young plants 
