CABBAGE. 19 



of the United States. On the one side is a heavy but 

 friable loam, capable of producing enormous crops. 

 On the other side the soil is of a light, sandy charac- 

 ter, with but little recuperative strength. Interme- 

 diate is, in sections, a turfy and sandy loam, and 

 beneath all is a gravelly subsoil, a condition best 

 suited for cabbages. 



In most countries there are certain districts and 

 some particular farms which are famous for the 

 production of some special crop and where the same 

 is extensively cultivated. In such localities there 

 are usually to be found some men who are leaders in 

 their principal industry ; they are regarded as author- 

 ities, and their advice is taken on all matters that per- 

 tain to their calling. This is the case on Long Island, 

 in regard to the cabbage, where certain farmers pos- 

 sessing a remarkable degree of intelligence, and who 

 are close observers and thinkers as well as workers, 

 have made the growing of cabbage a specialty. 

 These men have made selection, as a choice in regard 

 to form and habit, a study. They have chosen for 

 a purpose, either as regards earliness or lateness, or 

 for the development of a desired form. Persistent 

 labor and watchful care in this direction have been 

 the means of producing the best strains or varieties 

 of cabbage in cultivation. 



While variations of climate produce wonderful 

 changes in vegetable forms, it is a well-established 

 fact that any vegetable grown in a given soil will 

 assume a very different form when grown in either 

 a heavier or lighter one. This has been shown in a 

 remarkable degree with the cabbage. A given 

 variety grown for a long number of years on a hea-vy 

 soil, with a liberal supply of plant food, proper care 



