106 



LATE CABBAGE 



small, then we would cultivate real often; and if too large, 

 then we would stop. We think this applies to the cabbage 

 crop. Never cultivate over one and one-half inches deep un- 

 less the cabbages have started to burst. Then a very deep 

 cultivation will help to check their growth. In a dry season 

 cabbage is apt to form a small, hard head, which cracks very 

 badly. If the cultivator is kept going more frequently than 

 usual, it will greatly help to keep the heads growing so that 

 when late rains come on, there will be plenty of room to 

 take care of the extra rush of growth which would otherwise 

 cause the head to burst. It often pays to have a man go over 

 the field and loosen all heads that look as though they might 

 crack. A six-tined manure fork is a satisfactory tool to use. 

 By cultivating in the heat of the day, fewer leaves will be 

 broken off. The ground has been more or less tramped down 

 by setting. Therefore, the cultivator should be started as 

 soon as the plants straighten up. 



Diseases. 



In our section club root and stump rot or black heart cause 

 most of the disease troubles. Without a doubt stump rot or 

 black heart, which is a bacterial disease, is the most serious 

 thing a grower can get into his soil. A crop rotation of even 

 ten years does not seem to be a remedy. So it seems we must 

 look to a prevention rather than a cure. Once the disease 

 gets into the soil it spreads very rapidly. Every precaution 

 should be taken not to get dirt from an infested field to a non- 

 infested field by carrying it on farm machinery, animals' 

 feet, or plants from a diseased seed bed. 



Feeding stock diseased roughage, then spreading the 

 manure on a non-infested field is an ideal way to spread the 

 disease. So far we have been entirely free from it and in- 

 tend to keep so if possible. All cabbage seed should be treat- 

 ed as heretofore described, as seed very often carry the dis- 

 ease. 



Club root is familiar to us all. It has been found that a 

 rotation of five or six years betw^een cabbage crops is suffi- 

 cient to kill it if the ground is kept free from all plants be- 

 longing to the cabbage family. This includes mustard. It 



