Examination of Cabbage. 559 
3. Red or purple cabbage. Var. rubra. 
There are three kinds of this variety; the large red or red 
Dutch, the dwarf red and the Aberdeen red. The one here ex- 
amined is the large red. As a fall and winter variety it is much 
esteemed, and for pickling it is considered preferable to any other. 
It bears a small round compact head, from 4 to 8 inches in diame- 
ter, and weighs from 6 to 121bs. It is of a deep purple color with- 
out, and of a slightly lighter color within. The outside leaves are 
small, and less spreading than in the preceding varieties. The 
coloring matter may be in part due to the peroxide of iron, which 
is found quite largely in it, but mainly to an organic coloring 
matter, analagous to other fugitive blue colors, such as that of the 
hyacinth, the hollyhock, the lavender, the violet, and that of nu- 
merous other flowers. These coloring matters are all soluble in 
water and alcohol, and are all redened by acids, and restored again 
to their original blue color by alkalies. The stalks are of a medi- 
um length, and rather slender. 
The specimen examined \vas furnished by J. B. Hutson. The 
head was very firm and good size for this variety, being over 7 
inches in diameter. The part taken for proximate organic analy- 
sis, was a section extending from the centre to the circumference 
of the head. This gave of 
Calculated with, 
out the water. 
Sugar and extractive matter, with the body that 
gives the peculiar odor to cabbage, - - 8*70 51*479 
Oil and wax, -12 -710 
Fibre, with a little starch and coloring matter, 1'20 7'101 
Fibre, 2-98 17-134 
Matter dissolved out of fibre and other bodies, in- 
soluble in water and boiling alcohol, by a weak 
solution of caustic potash — resembles albumen, '19 1-124 
Albumen, l-aS 10-828 
Casein, -72 4-260 
Dextrine, 1-16 6-864 
Water, 83-35 
100-25 100-000 
The part for proportions was taken from the head, about half- 
way between the centre and circumference. It contains a little 
more water than the section used for organic analysis. 
Per centage of water, 87-915 
do dry matter, 12-085 
do ash, -930 
do ash calculated on the di-y matter, - - 7-695 
Allowing each head to weigh lOlbs., and each plant to occupy 
a space equal to a square yard, the produce per acre would be 
about 24-2 tons. Of this about 20-2 tons would be water, and 4 
tons dry matter. 
