118 THE AMERICAN GARDENER. [Chap* 



in the ground ; but, if the pull bring up the plant ; 

 then you may be sure that the planting is not well 

 done. The point of the stick ought to twist and 

 press the earth up close to the point of the root , 

 so that there be no hollow there. Pressing the 

 earth up against the stem of the plant is of little 

 use. As to distances they must be proportioned 

 to the size which the cabbages usually come to ; 

 and the size (difference of soil out of the question) 

 varies with the sort. However, for the very small 

 sorts, the Early Dwarf and the Early Sea-Green^ 

 a foot apart in all directions is enough ; for there is 

 no occasion to waste garden ground ; and you do 

 not want such things to stand long, and the plants 

 are in plenty as to number. The next size is the 

 Early York, which may have 16 inches every way. 

 The Sugar-loaf may have 20 inches. The Bat- 

 tersea and Savoy two feet and a half. The large 

 sorts, as the Drum-head and others, 3 feet at least* 

 Now, with regard to tillage, keep the ground clear 

 of weeds. But, whether there be weeds or not, 

 hoe between the plants in ten days after they are 

 planted. The reasons for this are amply stated in 

 Paragraphs 176 to 186. You cannot dig between 

 the plants, w^hich stand at the smallest distances ; 

 but you may, and ought, to dig once, if not twice, 

 during their growth, between all the rest. To pre- ^ 

 vent a sudden check by breaking all the roots at 3 

 once, in hot weather, dig every other interval, leave h 

 the rest, and dig them a week later. All the larger i 

 sorts of cabbages should, about the time that their I 

 heads are beginning to form, be earthed up ; that is, >' 

 have the earth from the surface draw up against the 

 stem ; and, the taller the plants are, the more ne- 

 cessary this is, and the higher should the earth be 

 drawn. After the earth has been thus drawn up 



