Cabbage Culture 



33] 



rapidly within the last ten years ?-s that of the cabbage. A few 

 years ago the consumption of sauer-kraut was confined princi- 

 pally to Germans and other foreign -born citizens. Its use has 

 not only increased among them, but our native Americans are 

 now using it largely. Tens of thousands of barrels are manufac- 

 tured yearly, where a few hundred barrels would have supplied 

 the demand twenty years ago. A very large amount of food can 

 be grown per acre with cabbage, and when grown it is valuable 

 either for man or beast. For instance, if an acre were set with 



Fig. 99. MlJabbage seedlings. Two-thirds natural size. 



some of the compact, close-growing varieties requiring 10,000 

 plants, the land being well enriched and then thoroughly culti- 

 vated, it w^ould not be unreasonable to expect the plants to aver- 

 age five pounds each, including the outside leaves. Here are 

 twenty-five tons of food per acre if used for cattle, and about 

 half or two-thirds of that amount if used for man. If some of 

 the large-leaved varieties, like the Premium Flat Dutch, are grown, 

 a much greater amount of food for stock may be raised per acre. 

 Even when it is grown for market, the large quantities of waste 

 leaves are well worth saving for stock food. 



Soil. — I prefer a sandy loam, rather heavy than light, and 

 rather damp than dry, but it must be thoroughly drained. Cabbage 



