EARLY CABBAGE 



59 



RAISING THE PLANTS 



There are several methods by which we may obtain a 

 supply of early plants. The old-fashioned way was to sow seed 

 in the open on the fifteenth of September. When the plants 

 were two or three inches high, they were transplanted into well- 

 drained cold frames, about two hundred plants per sash. When the 

 weather became cold, sash were placed on the frames and careful 

 attention paid to ventilation. If the weather became very severe, the 

 plants were still further protected by covering the sash with mats or 

 boards. The plan was to let the plant make the necessary develop- 

 ment in the fall and keep them in a dormant condition during the 

 winter. This method, however, is rather unsatisfactory in many 

 respects. The plants need looking after almost every day during the 

 winter, and often a considerable number of the plants run to seed on 

 being planted in the field. This was especially true if the seed was 

 sown prior to September fifteen. If sown much later, the plants did 

 not have time enough to make the proper development before cold 

 weather. 



Spring-sown plants have almost entirely taken the place of the 

 wintered-over ones. They can be produced cheaper and if properly 

 grown are much superior. If a green-house is not available, the seed 

 may be sown in hot-beds, and when a few inches high the plants are 

 set in cold frames, just as with wintered-over plants. A somewhat 

 better plan is to sow the seed in flats, placing the flats in the hot bed. 

 When the rough leaf appears, the seedlings are transplanted into simi- 

 lar flats one and one-half by one and one-half inches apart. These 

 flats are then watered, placed in cold-frames and, if necessary, shaded 

 a few days until the plants have struck root. 



A greenhouse is much more desirable in every way. It need 

 not necessarily be an expensive affair. A house twelve by sixty feet 

 need not cost over $200, if one is handy with tools. Having a sufii- 

 cient number of sash, one could run through such a house one hundred 

 thousand cabbages and the same amount of celery and tomato plants. 



In our section we make the first sowing of cabbage seed early in 

 January, using Early Jersey, Charleston, Glory of Enkhuizen, Succes- 

 sion, etc. We sow in flats rather than in solid beds, as the moisture 

 conditions are under better control. The seed is sown in drills one- 

 quarter inch deep and covered with sand. We prefer to transplant 

 before the rough leaf appears, as we get a more even stand of plants 

 by using them when quite young. They are set in the flats one and 

 one-half inches apart, but for the ^^ery earliest it pays to plant them 



