CABBAGE 



CABBAGE 



223 



thing to feed from the first of September until 

 November, and during this time the plants are cut 

 as required, or sheep are folded on them. Cab- 

 bages are stored in regular storage houses or in 

 pits six or eight feet wide which are dug out about 

 two feet below ground and roofed in with boards 

 and straw, the apex of the roof being about six 

 feet above ground. The heads are stored upside 

 down and kept cool, moist, and yet well ventilated, 

 until used or sold. 



Plants saved for seed production may be laid on 

 their side, with the roots in the ground and a fur- 

 row plowed over them. In spring they should be 



Fig. 317. Savoy cabbage. 



taken up and planted about four feet apart each 

 way in rich, well-prepared land. The plants cross- 

 pollinate, and two varieties should not be grown 

 near together. 



Obstructions to growth. 



Clubroot or anbury (Plasmodiophora brassicce) is 

 a fungous disease which attacks many cruciferous 

 plants ; it is common among turnips, causing them 

 to rot badly. It can be combated readily by lim- 

 ing the land at intervals of four or five years, as 

 suggested, and applying the lime with the crucif- 

 erous crop ; by destroying all cruciferous weeds 

 and by arranging the rotation so that such crops 

 will not be taken too frequently. 



Black-rot, or stem-rot (Pseudomonas eampestris), 

 is a bacterial disease and is one of the most dis- 

 astrous troubles of the cabbage. It is often found 

 on wild mustard and other cruciferous weeds, which 

 act as hosts in spreading it. There is no cure. 

 Prevention by disinfection of seed, destruction of 

 diseased specimens, a good rotation, the control of 

 insects which may carry the germs, is suggested. 

 A diseased crop should not be stored. It is better 

 to sell the plants while they are good. 



The flea-beetle {Phyllotreta vittata), a small, 

 black, quick-moving insect, sometimes destroys the 

 seedlings while they are in their first leaves. The 

 best means of combating is to sow plenty of seed 

 and to thin the crop if all come through. 



The green cabbage-worm (Pieris rapa) may be 

 combated in the case of young plants by spraying 

 with resin-lime mixture containing Paris green, 

 arsenate of lead in water as for potatoes, or, if 

 not abundant, by hand-picking. If the iirst 



brood, which is usually small, be controlled, little 

 trouble need be feared for the remainder of the 

 season. 



The cabbage-looper (Plusia brassicm) frequently 

 does considerable damage and is dealt with in the 

 same way as the green worm. The cabbage root- 

 maggot (Phorbia brassiccB) sometimes injures the 

 roots. In the southern states the harlequin cab- 

 bage-bug does considerable injury ; it is checked 

 by sowing mustard and radishes in the cabbage- 

 fields for the bugs to congregate on and then de- 

 stroying these by spraying with kerosene or burn- 

 ing. The blow-torch passed slowly over the crop 

 will also destroy these insects. The cabbage-aphis 

 is sometimes combated by spraying with kerosene 

 emulsion or tobacco powder. 



Marketing. 



Cabbage is a crop which may be sold for human 

 consumption if the price is high enough, or it may 

 be fed to stock. In the former case it is fre- 

 quently sold by the car-lot. When grown for the 

 retail trade it may be advisable to crowd the 

 plants, by putting more on the acre, in order to 

 keep, the size down, so that the heads may be 

 retailed for five cents each. This would require 

 heads weighing four to six pounds each, instead 

 of eight or ten pounds, as might be expected 

 ordinarily. 



Exhibiting. 



The important points are uniformity in size ; a 

 minimum of outside leaves to head ; a small per- 

 centage of stump to leaf when the head is cut 

 open ; a firm head, the leaves being closely packed 

 together and lapping over each other in the center; 

 freedom from evidence of disease or insect injury ; 

 true to name and type. 



' Literature. 



Cabbages, Cauliflower, and Allied Vegetables, 



C. L. Allen (1902), Orange Judd Co., New York; 

 Cabbages, How to Grow Them, J. J. H. Gregory 

 (1881), Marblehead, Mass.; How to Grow Cab- 

 bages, Pedersen and Howard (1888), W. A. 

 Burpee & Co., Philadelphia, Pa. ; Cabbage and 

 Cauliflower for Profit, J. M. Lupton (1898), W. A. 

 Burpee & Co., Philadelphia, Pa.; Forage Crops, 

 pp. 145-169, Thomas Shaw (1900), Orange Judd 

 Co., New York; Cyclopedia of American Horticul- 

 ture, Article on Cabbage, L. H. Bailey (1900), 

 Macmillan Co.; Black Rot, United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, Washington, D. C, Farmers' 

 Bulletin No. 68; same, Wisconsin Experiment 

 Station, Madison, Wis., Bulletin No. 65; same. 

 New York State Experiment Station, Geneva, N. 

 Y., Bulletin Nos. 251, 232; Cornell Experiment 

 Station, Bulletin No. 242 ; Vermont Experiment 

 Station, Burlington, Vt., Bulletin No. 66. For crop 

 management in the southern states, consult Texas 

 Experiment Station Bulletins, Nos. 57, 69, and for 

 other agricultural experiment station literature, 

 consult Experiment Station Record, published 

 by the Office of Experiment Stations, Washington, 



D. C. 



