CABBAGE. 



rcfa bv one 'jlc mould-board contrived for the 



^"tIk iv.d niii!\ be proc-.red from the beft and mod perfect 

 plants of the kind, in the manner that has been r.lready di- 

 rected for common cabbage, and be employed while it 13 

 perfecUy fieOi ; a.- fuch feed as has been kept forfome length 

 of lime "-eldom vegetates well, or wkh much re^riilarity. But 

 where it is neceffary to make ufe of it, the bell method is to 

 fteep it in water for a few hours before it is put into the 

 ground. The time of fowin.; muft be fooner or later, ac- 

 cording to the intention of the cultivator, in rcfpcd to the 

 confumption of the crop ; but for the fummer planling, the 

 bell time is tonei-aily about the latter end of March or t,ie 

 be<Tinnin^ of April ; for which purpofe a piece of ground 

 (hould be prepared, by repeated turnintr over in the winter, 

 fo as to become pcrfedly fine and free from weeds. i his 

 mull now be covered by Ibme well re<iuced farm-yard 

 manure, adding a little frelli horfe-dung from the ftable. 

 Tiiis i.i then to be turned lightly in, by means of the plough, 

 and a fuitable proportion of feed fown over the whole ; bcii}g 

 covered in by means of a llrong rake or light harrow. But 

 where this fort of preparation has not been made, a piece of 

 old grafs land, reduced by paring and burning, may, accord- 

 ing to Mr. Tugwell, an experienced cultivator, be drcffcd in 

 a limilar manner ; or the fulloil of a winter flieep-fold, the 

 ftraw, dung, and thin turfy materials having been previoudy 

 removed. As the plants rife, attention fhould be paid to 

 the fly, guarding againft its attacks by the application of 

 V'ood-alhes or foot, when it firft appears, over the crops. 

 When the plants are found to grow too fall, or advance too 

 high in the ilems, before the period of fetting them out in 

 the field, fo as to attain an improper fhape not eafily after- 

 wards removed, it may be necefTary to draw up the whole 

 of the plants clean on one fide of the bed, digging or turning 

 the foil over in the place where they ftood, to the depth of 

 four or five inches, with the fpade, putting the plants in the 

 trenches in the proportion of forty or fitty in each yard, 

 the roots being covered by the earth taken out of the 

 ficceeding trench, and {lightly trodden down upon them. 

 In this manner all the plants that require it are to be m- 

 trenehcd ; by which their improper growth may not only 

 be checked, but the plants be rendered more fit to be fet 

 cut in the field. But where the land for the feed-bed has 

 been properiy prepared, and is perfeflly free from weeds, 

 this prccefs will fcldom be found necefTary to be em- 

 Y)!ovcd. 



The planting out of this fort of plants may be executed 

 in the fame manner as the turnip-cabbage, either upon the 

 plain ploughed furfacc, or after the land has been raifed into 

 ridges. The latter is however to be preferred, efpecially 

 where the foil is inclined to moifturc. They are planted at 

 different dillances, according to the goodnefs of the land : 

 but the mod general pradlice is from two to two and a half 

 or three feet. Jn the ridge method, it is ufual to fet them 

 on the middle of the ridges, at the diflance of two feet in the 

 rows. The plants fhould be carefully drawn from the feed- 

 bed towards the latter end of June, for the fummer planting, 

 when of the fize of good large cabbage plants ; and in order 

 that as little injury as poffible may be done to the roots, this 

 work fiiould be performed immediately after rain, or after 

 the beds have been well watered. They are then to be made 

 up into fmall bundles, and diftributed by women and chil- 

 tlren fingly along the ridges, or on the plain furface of tlie 

 land, at proper dillances, to be direftly put into the foil by 

 the dibblers ; in doing which they (hould be plunged up to 

 the place of the branching out of tlie leaf Items, the mjuld 

 or. foil being firmly clofed about them in the manner advjfed 



4 



in the culture of the common cabbage. It is particularly 

 iKcelfary to attend to this la(l operation in dry ftafons, as 

 the fucccfs of the crop in a great meafnie depends upon il : nnd 

 at the fame time care faould be taken that a greater number 

 of plants be not drawn from the feed bed than can be planted 

 out in the fame day, and that they be as little as poffible ex- 

 pofed to the afticn of the luii and wind. It is alio neccffaiy 

 for a few days to guard againll their being pulled up and 

 deftroycd by rooks, or other birds, which are apt to attack 

 them. 



The after culture of the crops muft be carefully attended 

 to in theiV, as well as in otlier crops of a fimilar kind. In 

 about tcn'driys, or a fortnight, when the plants grow well, 

 they will in general require the afllllance of the hand-hoe, 

 to clear the ridges a.id give the plants a flight drefTing. 

 And as foon afterwards as may be convenient, the intervals 

 fliould be cleared either by the common plough, or any other 

 more fuitable implement, by pafiing tliem twice along each, 

 turning the furrows, where the land is clear, and not too 

 clofe or compaft, up towards the rows, being cartful not to 

 earth up the plants to too great a height ; but where the 

 contrary is the cafe, be turned from them, fo as to form a 

 ridge in the middle of the interval, the implement being pafTed 

 within a few inches of the plants in performing the operation. 

 This ridge in dry feafons fhould be fplit down, and returned 

 to the row again, in the courfe of a few days ; another hand- 

 hoeing being given as foon afterwards as may be found con- 

 venient. This laft operation may frequently be unnecelTary 

 on the more light and clean defcriptions of land ; but on the 

 ilrong and more compaft foils it may be had recourfe to 

 with advantage, both in refpeil to the prefent and future crop. 



The quantity of produce in crops of this kind, is fre- 

 quently found, on good land, to be from 2j to 30 tons on 

 the acre. It is Hated, in the ninth volume of the Bath 

 papers, that, in a practice of 20 years, the produce of an 

 acie of this crop was, on an average, invariably found to be 

 equal to the fupport of 70 Ihecp for a month, in the moll 

 hungry, trying, and difiicilt part of the year ; and this ou 

 land then not worth more than 13 s. the acre, but which 

 contained between fcven and eight thoufand plants, averag- 

 ing above four pounds each in weight. In the TranfaiSlions 

 of the. Society for the Encoui-agement of Arts, &c. various 

 accounts are given of the great ufe of the produce in thefe 

 crops, as well as of their vail utility as a late fpring (heep 

 feed. They have likewife been found beneficial in feeding 

 milch cows, and hogs are very fond of them, fows giving 

 abundance of milk while feeding on them. From this plant 

 being a native of a more cold and northern climate, it of 

 courfe retains, in fome meafure, the late habits of thefituation 

 from which it was originally brought, and becomes proper for 

 the purpofe of feeding live ftock,at a later period in the fpring, 

 than many other plants to which it has a refemblance. It 

 is fcldom before the middle of April that the juice begins to 

 rife, and the plant becomes proper for being fed upon. 

 About this time, however, as is (hewn by the bulhy appear- 

 ance of its top, it begins to pufh forward, and be in a con- 

 dition to be made ufe of. When employed before this 

 period, it is faid, in the work juft noticed, to be compara- 

 tively of little advantage ; and, in fome cafes, even injurious 

 to the animals that feed on and confume it. The principal 

 application of crops of this fort is in the feeding of (heep, 

 which are confined upon portions of them by hurdles, in the 

 manner praftifed for the common turnip. The roots are, 

 however, to be pulled up and prepared by being cut in two 

 by means of an implement of the mattock kind, having a 

 claw on one fiJe nine inches long, with a tranfverfe edge at 

 its end, two inches in width, and on the other a fort of 



cleaver; 



