UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
DEPARTMENT BULLETIN No. 1242 
Washington, D. C. 
September 2, 1924 
MARKETING CABBAGE ' 
By Alexander E. Cance. Consulting Specialist, and George B. Fiske, Investi- 
gator in Marketing Fruits and Vegetables. 
CONTENTS. 
Page. 
Development and changes 1 
Classes, types, and varieties 2 
Commercial production 3 
Principal commercial producing regions 4 
Growing and harvesting 10 
Financing 10 
Shipping seasons 12 
Country selling methods 15 
Packing, grading, and shipping 18 
Loading 20 
Transportation problems 22 
Farm and commerical storage 23 
Page. 
Use in kraut 26 
Distribution of the commercial crop 27 
Sources of city supply 36 
Seasonal consumption 37 
Wholesale marketing 37 
Specialf eatures of great markets 39 
Market preferences and specialties 41 
Use of the market reports 42 
Price tendencies 43 
Cost of marketing 46 
Summary of facts and figures 47 
DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGES. 
Progress of the commercial cabbage industry has been marked for a 
decade by the growth of newer shipping sections rather than by total 
increases. Production has extended westward where climate is favor- 
able and markets are relatively good, and it has gained in the South 
in response to increasing demand and better shipping facilities for 
out-of -season vegetables. 
Shortly after the Civil War early vegetables, including cabbage 
for northern markets, were grown in the peninsular region about 
Chesapeake Bay. As production extended southward to Florida 
and the Gulf States, Virginia and the Carolinas lost much of their 
relative advantage in the production of early cabbage, and the atten- 
tion of growers in those States was shifted somewhat to the late 
crop and to other vegetables. On the other hand, early southern 
stock had begun moving northward from Mobile by 1880 and in- 
creased enormously in quantity during the following 10 years. 
Florida, Texas, and California were important producers by 1910; 
in 1919 Florida and Texas followed Virginia in acreage; and from 
1918 to 1924 they exceeded that State in average volume of ship- 
ments. 
Northern producing States have been led by New York since the 
introduction of Danish cabbage in 1887. Wisconsin advanced to 
1 Acknowledgment for material and revision is made to the Divisions of Statistical and Historical Re- 
search, Agricultural Finance, Agricultural Cooperation and Cost of Marketing of the Bureau of Agri- 
cultural Economics; also to J. H. Beattie, of the Bureau of Plant Industry. 
81062°— 24 f 1 1 
