EARLY CABBAGE. 
BY R. S. COLE, HARMAN’S, MD. 
The market gardener is more certain of suc¬ 
cess of late years in the growing of early than 
late cabbages. This is owing in great part to 
their exemption from the attacks of insects and 
other enemies so numerous during the growth of 
summer and fall cabbage. They come in, how¬ 
ever, for their full share of enemies which makes 
even the growing of early cabbage a risky busi¬ 
ness. The cut worm in several instances cleaned 
up entire patches in this section the past season, 
rendering it necessary to plant the ground in 
something else. Salt sown heavily upon the 
freshly prepared grouud had no visible effect 
on the worms. As soon as the cut worms ceased, 
countless thousands of small black fleas swarmed 
in, sucking out what little vitality was left in 
the plants; those disappearing after a time made 
room for the common green cabbage worm, 
which happily were not in sufficient numbers to 
do much damage. A sprinkling of Cayenne 
pepper when the dew is on seems to be distaste¬ 
ful to them. Early cabbage, whatever may be 
-said, have to run the gauntlet of all these dan¬ 
gers before getting in condition for market. 
Summer and fall cabbage are liable to attacks 
of the European butterfly that lays the eggs 
which produce the worms so destructive of late 
years, and which is more to be dreaded than all 
other enemies combined. One of the chief causes 
of the failure of so many cabbage fields lately is 
the difficulty of procuring good seed. Market 
gardeners have gotten out of the habit of saving 
their own seed and trust this important matter 
to strangers. The result is that not one lot of 
-seel in three is reliable. 'For early cabbage I 
sow in hot bed about the 5th of February, taking 
care not to make the bed too hot, as they are 
apt to dry out or grow up spindly. I transplant 
to the open ground as early as the ground can be 
prepared in good order. If the plants are well 
hardened before the settiag out, a hard freezing 
will do bat little harm, provided the plants are 
set deeply, allowing no part of the stalk to be 
above ground. The preparation of the ground 
for early cabbage is a very important part. It 
can hardly be made too rich, and a liberal ap¬ 
plication of good ammoniated phosphates is a 
great help. On good land, cabbage may be 
raised with commercial fertilizers alone; one 
thousand pounds to the acre is none too much. 
A great essential is frequent workings with hoe 
-and cultivator; once a week is none too often. 
JEarly .Jersey Wakefield is one of the^earliest and 
a sure header. It is rather small, however. I 
have had best luck with Henderson’s Early 
Summer and Newark Early Flat Dutch, these 
are but a few days later and much larger; 
not over one plant in five hundred failed to head 
with me the past two seasons. I have never 
grown early cabbage by planting out in the fall, 
and am convinced that my custom of starting in 
a hot bed is best. Fall planted cabbage are apt 
to seed or winter kill, and ara at best but little 
the earlier of the two.—[American Farmer. 
-- 
EXPLORING HUDSON BAY. 
Professor Bell, who has spent five years iu ex¬ 
ploring Hudson Bay, gives, in glowing terms, 
an account of his wanderings in and about that 
great body of water, which, in his enthusiasm, he 
designates the Canadian Mediterranean. He 
states that Hudson Bay is in effect a thousand 
miles long, more than 600 miles wide and covers 
100,000 square miles. Instead of being, as is 
usually supposed, a part of the arctic regions, 
its nearest shore is more southerly than London, 
and its farthest still remains within the north 
temperate zone. On the northeast coast there is 
little snow in Winter, aud little rain in Summer. 
The tributaries of the bay are the Nelson, which 
discharges the waters of Lake Winnipeg; the 
Winnipeg, about the size of the Ottawa; the Sas¬ 
katchewan, 900 miles long, pouring in from the 
west; and the Red River, coming 500 miles from 
the south. All the central part of North America, 
from Labrador to the Rocky Mountains, drains 
into Hudson Bay. The largest tributary is the 
Nelson, about four times the size of the Ottawa 
at the capital; then come3 the Churchill, the Big 
River and the Albany. On the west side of the 
bay the southerly winds are the coldest that blow 
in the Winter, and there is less snow and less in¬ 
tense cold in the vicinity of York Factory and 
Fort Churchill than in more southerly regions. 
During Winter the temperature improves as one 
goes from Minnesota northward through Mani¬ 
toba, and down the valleys to Hudson Bay, and 
bathing is found agreeable in July, August and 
September. On the southern aud western shore 
unlimited supplies of red and white pine, spruce, 
white birch, balsam, poplar, aspen and tamarac 
are found. 
--- 
“What is that you are wearing?” asked 
Farmer John of his fair city boarder. “Oh! 
that is my red Jersey.” “All right,” was the 
reply, “but don’t go near my brown Jersey over 
in that field, unless you are good at climbing 
trees.” 
