190 
SOUTHERN CULTIVATOT. 
it ; because, like most other Northern Apples grown here, 
it is hard to catch one mature and well ripened; and when 
they are not so, they are poor things, bearing but little re- 
semblance to what the fruit ought to be. 
That they may “keep until March” when raised on 
suitable soil, and well matured and kept, may possibly be 
true; but here, they begin to rot on the tree long before 
the time for their maturity, both from worms at the core, 
and actually burning in the sun. Mr. Mangum himself 
is in the habit of picking from the tree all apples so affect- 
ed, while yet unripe, and selling them in this market. 
The perfect specimens ripen from the middle to the last 
of October; and even then all that I have seen decay very 
rapidly. Perhaps some persons may have kept them 
a long time sound who have the knowledge and the means 
to treat them properly. 
They are generally considered the best apples grown 
in this section; and some say they are equal to the best 
Northern kinds. I do not think so; though they are real- 
ly very good. 
In a late number of the Southern Cultivator, Mr. Nel- 
son describes a “Holly Apple” as a very large fruit, and | 
a native of Georgia; but in other respects it seems a good 
deal to resemble the Mangum. It is possible that they 
may both have been originally brought from Virginia, 
and may prove to be the same apple. 
Shockley . — Last fall two specimens of this apple were 
presented to me by a friend who had selected them, among 
others, to send North, to be described in a new edition of 
Downing’s “Fruits and Fruit Trees.” 
They were small, but fair and pretty — rather tough and 
of an insipid sweetish taste. In ray opinion, if this dis- 
tinguished fruit is not generally much better than these 
samples, it should be discarded from our catalogue and no 
more spoken of 
Buff . — Some two years ago, a vender of trees, deserved- 
ly and creditably known, presented me with a very fair 
specimen of this fruit, which, after keeping till it was as 
ripe as it could be, I tasted and condemned as unworthy 
of cultivation. 
Pound or King . — Last summer I raised my first apples 
of this kind — only a few on one tree — found them a large 
handsome fruit resembling in appearance the Gravenstein. 
I picked them at several times after the middle of August, 
and carefully kept them in a dry place to ripen. On the 
last of November I tasted the last one; they all proved 
totally unfit to eat. 
Foot Rounds . — This tree bore pretty fully last season, 
but the apples rotted on the tree pretty generally, and af- 
ter being housed, wilted very much, and proved to be 
about equal in flavor and tenacity to old boot leather. 
The last two kinds are annually sold in this neighbor- 
hood as native fruits. 
I came to Georgia seven years ago, entirely inexperi- 
enced in fruit culture, and planted both the Northern and 
home varieties, many of which have been gradually com- 
ing into bearing for several years past. I make my trees 
grow beautifully; but my luck in apples, plums, apricots 
and cherries, has so far been rather poor. Having nothing 
of the kind to sell, I may, w'ithout affecting my purse, safe- 
ly point out wherein I have fuled, and so, perhaps, save 
some labor to others who may be toiling as blindly as 1 
have done 
If the spirit moves, I may continue the subject. 
Windsor. 
Atlanta, Ga., May, 1856. 
[Our correspondent must have been unfortunate in his 
samples of the Shockley Apple. To our taste, it is a most 
excellent fruit — of medium size, beautiful color, white, 
firm flesh, a delicate sub-acid in flavor, and one of the 
best of keepers — in short, a “number one” Southern Win- 
ter Apple. The Mangum., also as a Fall Apple deserves 
all he says of it, and more. The premature decay that he 
speaks of, is undoubtedly owing to defective culture in 
the particular instance named. — Eds. So. Cl'lt ] 
WINTER CABBAGE. 
Editors Southern Cultivator — Every person in the 
South can easily grow spring cabbages, but to raise a 
good supply for fall and vi^inter, is a little more difficult, 
and is seldom done in Georgia, except in the mountains J 
I admit that it is difficult during an unusually dry fall, but 
in most seasons it can be done with proper management 
and in suitable localities. The soil should be very rich 
and trenched or subsoiled, and as the cabbage lives, for a 
great deal at least, on the moisture of the atmosphere, a 
rich swamp, particularly near a branch, is the most desir- 
able spot. But no matter how rich the soil is, the cab- 
bage crop will be highly benefited by a dressing with 
guano. Three hundred pounds of guano mixed with salt, 
and as much charcoal as anybody pleases, is sufficient 
for an acre. It should be worked in deeply, when the 
land receives the last plowing previous to planting. 
(^That the soil should be perfectly pulverized by repeated 
plowing, is a matter of course.) The soil must be pre- 
pared and ready for planting by the last of .Tuly. 
The next thing is to have full supply of good plants. 
The best varieties are: Comstock' s Premium Flat Dutch ; 
Bergen, and common Flat Dutch. I prefer Comstock’s 
seed from Wethersfield, Connecticut, as the best and most 
reliable I have met with. 
During the first week in June sow the seed quite thin, 
and water freely. The seed bed must be kept well shaded. 
It will not do to sow under trees ; an artificial shade must 
be made, a kind of an arbor, covered on the top with 
green brushwood. When the plants have got four leaves 
they must be pricked out on another shade bed 3 or 4 
inches apart; this will make them stout and increase their 
number of roots. As soon as they start to grow, take off 
the brushwood by degrees until the plants at last get used 
to the full sun. 
Any time in August, when the weather suits, set out 
the plants 3 feet apart, which will take about 4,800 plants 
to the acre. Do not pull up the plants in the seed bed, 
but lift them carefully, keeping as many roots and as 
large a ball of earth as possible. Set them out in the 
evening, plant down to the first leaves, and give them a 
good watering ^‘right off." The after-culture is only to 
hoe frequently, and keep the soil stirred, taking care not 
to break off any leaver. As cabbages cannot well stand 
ail the severe frosts in the winter, they can be kept in the 
following way: On a high, dry, spot, (a sandy hill is pre- 
ferable) dig a trench about one foot deep and as wide as 
necessary ; put the cabbages down in it, head foremost, 
one by one, without touching each other,scattera little pine- 
straw or dry leaves over them and fid the trench and cab- 
bages over with earth, leaving the stumps out. Thus one 
trench is to be made close to the other and the cabbages 
put in. If the whole place is then covered up with litter, 
so much the better. 
Thus managed, cabbages will keep all winter until 
March, and be as good as any raised in the North. 
Robert Nelson. 
Macon, Ga., May, 1856. 
|^°A woman is either worth nothing or a great deal. 
If good for nothing, she is not worth getting jealous for; 
if she be a true woman, she will give no cause for jeal- 
ousy. 
