18 



HOW TO GROW 



set deep and firm, they will not be injured even 

 by rather severe weather after planting. Eighteen 

 inches apart either way will be sufficient space for 

 most varieties of early cabbage, but for convenience 

 of cultivating with horse power, thirty inches 

 between the rows may be advisable and sixteen or 

 eighteen inches between the plants in the rows 

 will afford room for about 10.000 or 11,000 plants 

 to the acre. 



The soil should be put in the best possible state 

 of preparation immediately before planting. If 

 the roots of the plants be " puddled " in a mixture 

 of cow dung, clay and water, of a consistency of 

 thick paint, the plants will be much more certain 

 to grow, and no watering will be needed even if 

 the weather be dry. A reserve of plants should 

 be kept to fill out empty spaces if some of the 

 plants first set out should fail to grow. 



To bring the highest price the crop should be 

 marketed as early as possible, the heads be solid 

 and well shaped, and the more uniform in size 

 the better. Early cabbages are generally cut off 

 with a few of the inner leaves adhering to the 

 heads, which improves their appearance. If they 

 are to be taken in wagons to a near market, the 

 heads are to be cut off early in the morning while 

 the dew is on. For a more distant market, when 

 they are to be sent in crates or ventilated barrels, 

 they had better be cut late in the afternoon, before 

 dew-fall, as moisture will soon spoil them, and the 

 barrels should be kept protected against the sun. 



