CABBAGE. 



63 



is recommended to lioe the ground while the dew is on, 

 once a week, till they begin to head. 



Diseases and insects, — Cabbages are liable to a disease in 

 the roots, in which they become swelled and knobby, and 

 the plants of weak and imperfect growth. This disorder is 

 called stump foot, fumble foot^ &c. It has been supposed to 

 be caused by the attacks of grubs, below the surface of the 

 ground; and the disorder is said to be chiefly prevalent where 

 the same sorts of cabbages ha.ve been raised on the same 

 ground several years in succession. Lovet Peters, Esq, 

 of Westborough, Mass., says, the cause of the stump foot, 

 is in the soil: — '' Few pieces of land, I believe, that have 

 been, for several successive years under the plough, will 

 produce a good crop of cabbages, though there may be 

 exceptions. My method of raising them, w^hich I have 

 practised several years with complete success, is the 

 following : — In the spring, take a piece of green sward, 

 of a good soil, and free from stones, and turn it over with 

 the plough as flat as possible ; then spread on a large quan- 

 tity of good manure : if it has been previously mixed with 

 leached ashes, the better. Then harrow greatly, and early 

 in June : if for winter cabbage, cut holes through the turf, 

 with a hoe, as near together as the cabbages ought to grow ; 

 fill the holes with fine earth and manure, and then set the 

 plants, or put in a small number of seeds : I prefer the 

 latter, however,* since it saves the labour of setting, and 



^ Cultivators do not agree on the subject of transplanting cabbage plants, or 

 sowing the seeds in the spots where the plants are to grow. Dr. Deane, as has 

 appeared above, after having- tried both methods, gave the preference to 

 transplanting-. BIr. Peters, we have seen, prefers the other mode. Mr. Bord- 

 le\' relates aji experiment, in which he " compared cabbages transplanted with 

 others not once moved. The unmoved g-rew, and were better than the moved.'" 

 Mr. Cobbelt says, to have fme cabbages of any sort, they must be jJxozc^' trans- 

 planted. First, they should be taken from the seed-bed, (where they have been 

 sown in beds near to each other,) and put into fresh dug, well-broken ground, 

 at six inches apart, every way. This is called 'pricking out. By standing 

 here about fifteen or twenty days, they get straight, and stand strong, erect, 

 and have a straight and stout stem. Out of this plantation they come all 

 of a size ; the roots of all are in the sam.e state, and they strike quicker into 

 the ground where they stand for a crop.'' According to Rees^ Cyclopedkt, 

 it was the practice of the celebrated Bakewell, and other cultivators who 

 followed his example, to drill cabbage seed where the plants v/ere to re- 

 main. Perhaps there would be no necessity for transplanting- cabbages, 

 in order to make the stems .'^ straight and stout," according to Mr. Cobbeit's 

 directions, if the plants vv^ere not originally sown too thick, or were proper- 

 ly thinned at an early period of their growth. An English writer says, 

 ^' Much injury frequently arises to young cabbage plants, from the seed being 



