I40 



THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 



the long hot days of summer. Over a great part of Britain this 

 is not needed. The kinds which are cut in autumn do not require 

 any special treatment. Those which are for winter use should not 

 be allowed to remain where they were planted, except in localities 

 where the winter climate is mild ; everywhere else, they should be 

 taken up and trimmed of all decaying and superfluous leaves, and 

 then replanted closely in rows, in an inclined position, with the top 

 of the head, if possible, turned towards the north. In some 

 countries a curious, but very effectual, method is adopted : a sort of 

 a wall is constructed of soil, in which the stems and roots of the 

 Cabbages are placed horizontally, the heads remaining outside. In 

 this way, they will keep very far into the winter. Very few of the 

 common large Cabbages are suited for being sown in August for 

 use in the spring or early summer, as most of them run to seed 

 without forming a head when grown under those conditions. It is 

 advisable, therefore, to treat such Cabbages as biennials only in 

 places where this has been tried with success. 



Besides the varieties already described, we may mention the 

 following kinds, which were formerly more or less esteemed, and 

 the names of which are still to be met with in horticultural works, 

 although the plants themselves are not now so often in cultivation ; 

 also a few local varieties, which at present are hardly distributed 

 beyond their native districts : — 



Alsace Autumn Cabbage. — Stem long ; head large, compact, 

 flat, and sometimes brown on the upper part ; outer leaves short, 

 stiff, and round. This variety resembles the Saint-Denis Cabbage, 

 but it has a longer stem, and comes in somewhat earlier. 



Large La Trappe, or Mortagne, Cabbage. — This handsome 

 kind is hardly grown beyond the neighbourhood of Mortagne, in 

 the department of I'Orne. It is somewhat like the Saint-Denis 

 Cabbage, but is later, much larger, and of a deeper green colour. 



Death's-head Cabbage. — A very thick-set, dwarf variety. 

 Head of average size, very compact, regular, light in colour, and 

 almost spherical ; outer leaves rounded and not large. A very 

 distinct variety, but now almost universally superseded by the Late 

 St. John's Day Cabbage. 



In enumerating the principal local varieties grown in England, 

 other parts of Europe, and the United States, we may observe 

 that it is rather remarkable that, while a great number of the 

 varieties of other vegetables are almost exactly the same in France 

 and England, most of the varieties of Garden Cabbages are quite 

 different in the two countries. This is probably owing to the 

 difference of climate, as the Cabbage is highly susceptible to the 

 effects of a dry or a moist climate. We shall only mention those 

 English varieties which are most generally grown, noting, where 

 possible, the French varieties they most closely resemble. 



