Book I. 



THE CABBAGE TRIBE. 



607 



3477. Siveet herbs ; comprehending thyme, sage, clary, mint, balm, marjoram, savory, 

 basil, rosemary, lavender, tansy, costmary, and some of those in the preceding section. 



3478. Plants used in tarts, confectionary, and domestic medicine ; coinprehending rhu- 

 barb, gourd, angelica, anise, coriander, caraway, rue, hyssop, chamomile, elecampane, 

 licorice, blessed thistle, wormwood, and some others. 



3479. Plants used as preserves and pickles ; comprehending love-apple, egg-plant, cap- 

 sicum, caper, samphire, and the red cabbage, Indian cress, radish, kidneybean, marsh 

 marygold, &c. included in other sections. 



3480. Edible indigenous j^lants neglected, or not in cultivation ; comprehending the sea- 

 beet, nettle, sea-peas, and a variety of other natives. 



3481. Edible British fungi; comprehending the mushroom, truffle, and morel. 



3482. Edible British fuci ; comprehending the dulse, tangle, &c. 



Sect. I. The Cabbage Tribe. 



3483. The cabbage tribe is of all the classes of cultivated culinary vegetables, the most 

 ancient as well as the most extensive. The Brassica oleracea. Tetrad, siliq. Linn., and 

 Crucferce, Jiiss. figured in Eng. Bot. t. 637., being extremely liable to sport, or run 

 into varieties and monstrosities, has in the course of time, become the parent of a numer- 

 ous race of culinary productions, so very various in their habit and appearance, that to 

 many it may appear not a little extravagant to refer them to the same origin. Besides 

 the different sorts of white and red cabbage, and Savoys, v/hich form the leaves into a 

 head, there are various sorts of borecoles, which grow with their leaves loose in the natural 

 way, and there are several kinds of cauliflower and broccoli, which form their stalks or 

 flower-buds into a head. All of these, with the turnip-rooted cabbage and the Brussels 

 sprouts, claim a common origin from the single species of brassica above mentioned. 

 Cabbage of some sort. White, in his History of Selborne, informs us, must have been, 

 known to the Saxons ; for they named the month of February Sprout kale. ' Being a 

 favorite with the Romans, it is pro})able the Italian cabbage would be introduced at an 

 early period into South Britain. To the inhabitants of the north of Scotland, cabbages 

 were first made known by the soldiers of the enterprising Cromwell, when quartered at 

 Inverness. (Edin. Encyc. art. Hort.) 



3484. The origirml cabbage-jjlant grows naturally on the sea-shores in different parts of 

 England, but it has not been observed in Scotland. It is a biennial plant ; the stem- 

 leaves are much waved and variously indented ; the color is sea-green, with occasionally 

 a tinge of purple. Early in the spring, the wild cabbage or colewort, from the sea-coast, 

 is said to be excellent, but it must be boiled in two waters to remove the saltness. The 

 roots may also be eaten, but they are not veiy tender. {Neill, in Ed. Encyc. and Martyuy 

 in Mill. Diet.) 



3485. A new arrangement of the cultivated species of brassica has been made by 

 Prof. Decandolle {Hort. Trans. yo\. \. , and in\n%Beg. Veg.), but as many of the va- 

 rieties which the brassica oleracea assumes on the continent are little known here, and as 

 some of our varieties are omitted in Prof. Decandolle's enumeration, there does not 

 seem at present any sufficient reason to deviate from the usual British arrangement of this 

 genus. Prof. Decandolle's varieties, or races, of B. oleracea, are — 



B. oleracea sylvestris, or wild cabbage I B. oleracea capltata, headed or leaved cabbage 



acephala, open cabbage, or borecole caulo-rapa, turnip cabbage, and 



buUata, blistered cabbage, or Savoy I botrytis, flowery cabbage, or cauliflower, and broccoli. 



The colza of the Dutch, he makes a distinct species (S. campestris), and also the turnip {B. Rapa), the 

 rape {B. Napus), and the summer rape of the Germans (B. preecox). 



3486. The sjmce occup)ied by this tribe in most kitchen-gardens may be estimated sit one, 

 eighth part of the open compartments, taking the whole year round ; and in cottage-gardens, 

 the heading cabbages and borecoles generally occupy one half of the whole space. We 

 shall take the varieties in the order of white cabbage, red cabbage. Savoy, Brussels 

 sprouts, borecole, cauliflower, and broccoli. 



SuBSECT. I. IVliite Cabbage. — Brassica oleracea, var. a. capitata, L. and Dec. Chou 

 l)oinme, or cabus, Fr. ; Kopfkohl, Ger. ; and Cavolo, Ital. 



3487. The common or ivhite garden-cabbage is too well known, and its uses too 

 universal, to require any description. It produces firm, compact heads, glaucous, green, 

 or greenish-yellow externally, but blanched within, and varying in different sorts from 

 three to twelve or fifteen inches' diameter, and from two to fifteen or twenty pounds' 

 weight. 



3488. Subvarieties. These are very numerous : the sorts chiefly cultivated are — 



Small early dwarf 

 Early dwarf York 

 I>arge early York 

 Early dwarf sugar-loaf 

 Large sugar-loaf 

 East Ham 

 Early Battersea 

 Eaiiy Imperial 



Pentonville. Large round 

 head ; leaves white and 

 fleshy, wrinkled like the 

 Savoy; very delicate and 

 fine : in perfection dur- 

 ing the latter summer 

 months, when other cab 

 bagei are of strong flavor. 



Antwerp 

 Russian 



Early London hollow 

 Large hollow sugar-loaf 

 Large oblong hollow 

 Large round winter 

 (white) 



Great drum-head flat- 

 topped 



Great round Scotch, or 

 white Strasbourg : from 

 which the German sour 

 krout is chiefly made. 



