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PB ACTIO AL GUIDE TO GARDEN PLANTS cabbage 



CABBAGE (Beassica olebacba 

 capitata). — The progenitor of the culti- 

 vated Cabbage is still found wild in many 

 parts of England near the seashore, but, 

 needless perhaps to say, it bears no resem- 

 blance to any of its descendants. As a 

 vegetable the Cabbage is very highly 

 esteemed, and by selection of good early 

 and late varieties may be had in use nearly 

 the whole year round. 



Soil. — The soil for Cabbages should 

 be well dug or trenched, receiving at the 

 same time a good dressing of well-decom- 

 posed manure, which should, however, be 

 well buried in the trenches or furrows, so 

 as to be at least 9 inches beneath the 

 surface. Any good garden soil will suit 

 Cabbages, but they prefer a good rich and 

 deep loam on a chalky subsoil. Hot dry 

 soils are of little use for growing Cabbages, 

 and cool moist situations should be chosen 

 if possible. When the young plants have 

 become established they require little 

 a,ttention beyond drawing the soil up to 

 the stems from each side, and keeping 

 the weeds down by hoeing occasionally. 

 In the event of dry weather at the time 

 of planting it is best to give each plant a 

 good watering. 



Spring Cabbages. — To obtain Cab- 

 bages in spring and early summer it is 

 necessary to sow the seeds from about the 

 middle to the end of August in the north, 

 and about a fortnight later in the south. 

 If sown out of doors earlier or later than 

 ■these periods, the plants are apt to ' bolt ' 

 or run to seed in spring, and therefore 

 valueless as a, crop. The seeds may be 

 sown thinly on specially prepared beds or 

 in shallow drills or rows, afterwards raking 

 the soil over and gently patting it down 

 with the back of the spade. Two good 

 varieties for sowing at this period are 

 Ellam'sDwwrf Early and EnfieldMarket. 

 As a rule it is a good plan to give the seed 

 bed a good watering. By the end of Sep- 

 tember or beginning of October the young 

 plants will be large enough to transplant 

 in rows or drills, allowing li-2 ft. between 

 the plants every way. Some gardeners, 

 however, have the plants at first 1.5 in. 

 apart in the rows, which should be about 

 2 ft. apart, and in early spring every other 

 plant is cut and used as ' greens.' This is 

 an excellent practice, especially in severe 

 winters when the supply of ' greens ' in 

 early spring is likely to be scarce. By 

 cutting every other plant a distance of 2^ 



ft. is then left between the plants in the 

 rows, and this allows plenty of space to 

 enable the remaining plants to develop for 

 the main crop. Dull and mild showery 

 weather is the best for transplanting. 



Autumn Cabbages. — For autumn and 

 winter use the seed should be sown in 

 March and April in shallow drills or rows, 

 as mentioned above. When the seedlings 

 are large enough to handle (with 3-4 

 leaves), that is, in June and July, they 

 are transplanted in the same way to their 

 permanent quarters, and will be ready for 

 use from August to October. This crop of 

 Cabbages may very fitly be grown on soil 

 that has already grown a crop of Onions or 

 early Potatoes. 



Successional Sowings. — The above 

 are the two seasons of sowing seeds for 

 the two principal crops. But Cabbages 

 may be sown earlier and later than the 

 dates mentioned in each case, so as to 

 produce earlier or later crops. Thus in 

 February seeds may be sown in a warm 

 pit or frame, and the seedlings pricked 

 out into nice hght soil in similar places, 

 giving them, however, as much air and 

 hght as possible, so long as they "are not 

 frosted. When they become rather thick, 

 and according to the mildness of the 

 weather, the yomrg plants may be trans- 

 ferred to the open ground, the lifting and 

 planting being done as carefully as 

 possible so as not to give too great a check 

 to the roots. These plants will be ready 

 for cutting in summer, and may have a 

 crop of Lettuce taken off the ground 

 between the rows while growing. 



Cutting Cabbages. — When fully 

 developed with a full round and hard 

 centre or ' heart ' Cabbages are fit for 

 cutting. To make the supply last as long 

 as possible the heads should be cut at the 

 top of the stem to which a few of the 

 lower leaves may be left attached. If the 

 stems are thus allowed to remain they 

 will develop numerous ' sprouts ' up the 

 stem in due course, and these are also 

 much appreciated. To secure the best 

 results the sprouts should be thinned out 

 somewhat, otherwise the stems will be 

 clustered with a mass of small heads of 

 inferior value. 



VARIETIES OF CABBAGE 



There are several kinds of Cab- 

 bages, but the best for general purposes 

 are Early Bainliain, Ellam's Dwarf 



