10 BULLETIN 1242, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
WASHINGTON. 
The Puget Sound and Walla Walla districts in Washington to- 
gether ship around 100 cars per season. Most of the crop is sold in 
the local markets of Washington and Oregon. In the Walla Walla dis- 
trict and also in parts of Spokane County and of the Puget Sound 
district both early and late varieties are grown for the neighboring 
markets. Around Walla Walla the early pointed and flat kinds are 
started very early or wintered over and are harvested in June and 
July. These are sometimes shipped as far east as Minnesota and to 
cities of northwest Canada. Late cabbage is shipped from the Puget 
Sound district during the fall months, chiefly to near-by markets. 
While the Washington cabbage territory is not very prominent in 
volume of production, it is representative of a region where condi- 
tions vary considerably as compared with the East. 
GROWING AND HARVESTING. 
Well prepared soil is essential to the growing of a heavy crop of 
cabbage. The plant is a gross feeder and must be supplied with 
humus and plant food from green crops, manure, commercial fertili- 
zer, or combinations of these. Heavy fertilization is necessary 
throughout southern regions with light soils. Growers in the Rio 
Grande Valley and in the newer sections of the Northwest do not 
employ commercial fertilizers so generally as is the practice in many 
other sections. Most of the early crop grown in the South is set in 
the field in autumn. The early crop of the North is set in the spring, 
and the late or main crop is transplanted to the field in early summer, 
sometimes following another vegetable crop, such as early potatoes. 
Hand planting is widely practiced, but setting by machine with 
watering attachment is a common method. Irrigation is practiced 
in many sections, especially in parts of Texas, California, and Colo- 
rado. Cultivation must be shallow but thorough. The control of 
insects by the use of dust or sprays is necessary to obtain a high- 
class marketable product. Yields of from 5 to 7 tons per acre are 
usually secured under favorable conditions in the South, or about 
100 barrel-capacity crates, a yield equivalent to a half carload. The 
late northern crop normally gives a yield of 8 tons or more. 
The cabbage crop is harvested with various kinds of cutting tools, 
including large knives, spuds or cutting forks, spades, and hatchets. 
Expert workmen leave a stem about one-quarter of an inch long. 
They cut and trim the head and remove the loose outer leaves, all 
at one operation. 
Early cabbage is often harvested at intervals, as fast as the heads 
reach maturity. The heads are thrown into fann wagons, which are 
drawn through the field just ahead of the cutters. The main crop is 
not harvested until the whole field is sufficiently mature, although 
the time depends somewhat on convenience and general market con- 
ditions. The heads from several rows, usually four, may be thrown 
together and the wagon driven between two of the windrows of 
trimmed heads, so that eight rows of cabbage arc taken out together. 
HOW THE EARLY CROP IS FINANCED. 
The greater pari of the early cabbage crop in the South is grown 
on credit of some kind. Loans are made by local dealers or by local 
