ii8 THE VEGETABLE GARDEN • 



The stem attains a height of from nearly 2^ to over 3 ft., and 

 bears at the top a spike of yellow, or sometimes white, flowers. 

 All the cultivated varieties present the same characters in their 

 inflorescence, but, up to the time of flowering, they exhibit most 

 marked differences from each other and from the original wild 

 plant. In most of the Cabbages, it is chiefly the leaves that are 

 developed by cultivation ; these, for the most part, become 

 imbricated or overlap one another closely, so as to form a more 

 or less compact head, the heart or interior of which is composed 

 of the central undeveloped shoot and the younger leaves next 

 it. The shape of the head is spherical, sometimes flattened, 

 sometimes conical. All the varieties which form heads in this 

 way are known by the general name of Cabbages {Choux pommes), 

 while other kinds with large branching leaves, which never form 

 heads, are distinguished by the name of Borecole or Kale 

 (Choux verts). 



In some kinds, the flower-stems have been so modified by 

 culture as to become transformed into a thick, fleshy, tender mass, 

 the growth and enlargement of which are produced at the expense 

 of the flowers, which are absorbed and rendered abortive. Such are 

 the Broccolis and Cauliflowers. In other kinds, the leaves retain 

 their ordinary dimensions, while the stem, or the principal root, has 

 been brought by cultivation to assume the shape of a large ball or 

 Turnip, as in the case of the plants known as Kohl-Rabi {Choux- 

 raves) and Turnip-rooted Cabbage or Swedish Turnip [CJioux- 

 navets). And, lastly, there are varieties in which cultivation and 

 selection have produced modifications in the ribs of the leaves (as 

 in the Couve Tronchuda), or in the axillary shoots (as in Brussels 

 Sprouts), or in several organs together (as in the Marrow Kales 

 and the Neapolitan Curled Kale). We make no mention here of 

 the Colza, another variety, grown exclusively for the sake of its 

 seeds, from which an oil is obtained, and which, therefore, is 

 to be classed amongst the plants which are grown for economic 

 or manufacturing purposes. 



Culture. — The different kinds of Cabbages vary so much in 

 constitution and treatment that it is impossible to lay down precise 

 rules for the cultivation even of each entire class or section. We 

 shall, therefore, when describing each variety, give instructions as 

 to the proper times for sowing and planting it, merely mentioning 

 here a few particulars which are applicable to the cultivation of 

 almost all kinds of Cabbages. Further information as to cultivation 

 will be found under the head of Early Cabbages, and also under the 

 Drumhead varieties. 



A cool moist climate seems to be the most suitable of all for the 

 culture of Cabbages, which generally grow to greater perfection in 

 districts near the sea-coast than they do in either low-lying or 



