BUCKWHEAT 



CABBAGE 



221 



process, is much sought by dairymen as food for 

 dairy cows because of its high content of protein. 

 The hulls have little or no value. Sometimes they are 

 ground and used as an adulterant for black pepper. 



Buckwheat grain is much relished by poultry 

 and has the reputation of being of special value in 

 egg production. In recent feeding experiments 

 this reputation is scarcely sustained. 



Buckwheat is also a well-known honey plant 

 (see Vol. ni). 



Enemies. 



The buckwheat crop is unusually free from 

 interference from weeds or plant diseases. It 

 starts so quickly and grows so rapidly that most 

 weeds get no chance to make headway against 

 it. In fact, buckwheat is one of the best crops for 

 cleaning land by smothering out weed growths. 

 Wild birds as well as domestic are fond of the grain, 

 and, when abundant, sometimes cause considerable 

 loss. No insect or fungous troubles have been suf- 

 ficiently destructive to attract much attention. 



Literature. 



The literature on buckwheat is meager. A few 

 of the experiment stations have bulletins on the 

 subject, and discussions have been published in the 

 Yearbooks of the United States Department of 

 Agriculture, and in the agricultural press, notably, 

 the Country Gentleman. The three publications fol- 

 lowing devote some space to buckwheat : Hunt, 

 Cereals in America, pp. 400-410 ; Wilson, Our 

 Farm Crops, London, Vol. 1, pp. 188-196 ; Cornell 

 Bulletin, No. 238. 



such plants our common headed cabbage (Brassica 

 okracea, var. capitata, DC.) has been derived; others 

 bear small cabbages in the axils of leaves and 

 from such the Brussels sprout (Brassica oleracea, 

 var. gemmifera, Hort.) has arisen. The leaves of 

 the wild plant are bluish green, fleshy and hair- 

 less like those of the cultivated cabbage, and either 

 entire or indented in outline. The latter character 

 apparently has been developed to a marked de- 

 gree in our kale (Brassica oleracea, var. acephala, 

 DC), of which there are so many forms ; other 

 wild plants show the blistered leaf which is seen 

 in such an exaggerated form in the Savoy cabbage 

 (Brassica oleracea, var. bullata, DC.) and also in the 

 Brussels sprout. The leaves of the wild plant are 

 normally green, but they become red or purple by 

 exposure to the sun or when old and diseased ; by 

 selection we have developed the reddish or purple 

 color as a permanent character in all the forms. 

 Finally, the flower has been modified. In the wild 

 plant the flowers are borne on stalks much like a 

 large wild carrot, some of the stalks being long 

 and others short. By selection of plants in which 

 the flower-stalks had a tendency to become thick- 

 ened and shortened, the cauliflower and broccoli 

 (Brassica oleracea, var. botrytis, DC.) probably were 

 produced, the former from a thick-ribbed smooth- 

 leaved form, and the latter from a thin-ribbed form. 

 The wild cabbage has been used as food from 

 time immemorial. The head cabbage was developed 

 in northern Europe, where it has long been grown. 

 The headless forms were early grown in southern 

 Europe. Climatic conditions seem to have contrib- 

 uted in deciding this division of types. The bulk of 



:^^- 



Fig. 315. Cabbage shapes. Left, flat; left center, round or ball; center, egg-shaped; right center, oval; right, conical. 



CABBAGE FOR STOCK - FEEDING. Brassica 

 oleracea, Linn. Cruciferce. Figs. 315-317. 



By Samuel Fraser. 



Cabbage is a name at present applied to a large 

 group of plants. The wild cabbage (Brassica olera- 

 cea, var. sylvestris) is looked on as the prototype of 

 these species. It occurs wild in Europe, on the 

 coast of England. It has a crooked, half-ligneous, 

 branching stalk, is perennial and bears seed when 

 two, three or four years old. The stalks may be 

 three to four inches in diameter and may bear green, 

 herbaceous, cylindrical branches. Looking at this 

 plant and at kohlrabi (Brassica eaulorapa) it is 

 easy to see that the latter is not distantly removed 

 from the cabbage. Some of the wild plants bear 

 small heads at the summit of the stem, and from 



the crop in the United States is grown in the North; 

 although early cabbages for spring consumption 

 are grown in large quantities, in the winter, in the 

 southern states, as also the coUard, a headless type. 

 De CandoUe (Trans. Hort. Soc. London, Vol. 5, 

 1-43 ; Prodr. 1.213) grouped the descendants of 

 the wild cabl)age under six heads : 



Brassica oleracea acephala, the kales, thousand- 

 headed cabbage, etc. 

 Brassica oleracea capitata, the headed cabbage 



or common cabbage. 

 Brassica oleracea huUata, the Savoy cabbage. 

 Brassica eaulorapa, kohlrabi. 

 Brassica okracea gemmifera, the Brussels 



sprouts. 

 Brassica okracea botrytis, the cauliflower and 

 broccoli. 



