GARDENS AND THEIR MEANING 
1 16 
the distance between drills should not be less than ten or 
twelve inches. One foot of drill will give about two dozen 
seedlings. Seeds are planted one-half inch deep. 
When the seedlings are ready for transplanting, pinch back 
the leaves, for it is necessary that the roots should get estab- 
lished as soon as possible. Do not hurt the central shoot, for 
that would spoil the leafy head. Set each plant in a little 
deeper than it stood before, so that it will not topple over 
from its own weight. 
There are three varieties of cabbage : red, smooth, and 
wrinkled. The picturesque purple cabbage fields that one 
remembers seeing everywhere in France are made up of the 
red. The smooth are most common in our country, though 
the wrinkled are said to have the finest flavor. All varieties 
call for generous manuring. Poultry manure may be used in 
part. More than most vegetables, cabbages need patient cul- 
ture, so that they may be supplied with steady moisture. 
Cabbage enemies are numerous. The most disagreeable 
ones are the cabbage worm, the loopers, and the flea beetle. 
There are, besides, two mischievous fungi that attack it: black 
rot and club root. The insects must be picked off or sprayed 
with poison. Watch especially for the pretty but dangerous 
little cabbage butterfly. As to the fungi, if they persist they 
must simply be starved out ; so burn all the leaves that show 
the fatal signs. Burn whole cabbages if necessary. Examine 
every plant carefully before storing for the winter. Cabbages 
are amazingly hardy; they need not be stored earlier than 
Thanksgiving. Then pack them in a shallow trench lined 
and covered with hay, and pile on some earth. 
Americans have much to learn from cooks in other coun- 
tries about the use of cabbages, particularly from the Ger- 
mans, whose bill of fare is hardly complete without some 
cabbage dish. They have many recipes which can easily be 
