AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
365 
18G3.] 
got on tlie track, and you could not turnout for 
lier?”—“Well, my Lords,” said Stephenson, “It 
would be bad for the cow ! ” 
A Talk Over a Cabbage. 
The cabbage is so common an article of food 
that it may be supposed little can be said about 
it, not already sufficiently well known. Perhaps 
we may be able to show that its real nature is 
not generally understood. What is the cabbage ? 
In the beet, carrot, and parsnip, we eat the root; 
in the potato, the underground stem ; in aspara¬ 
gus, a tender above ground stem; while in spin¬ 
ach, it is the developed leaves which furnish 
food. What is the eatable portion in the cab¬ 
bage? We answer, a large bud. A little study 
of the cabbage and comparison with other 
plants, will show that this is so. Let us com¬ 
pare it with a twig of one of our hardy trees— 
the horse-chestnut will answer best because its 
buds are large—and see if there is not a great 
similarity. Upon a twig of horse-chestnut 
(Fig. 1,) we have a large bud at the end, the 
terminal bud, and smaller ones along the sides of 
the stem. These smaller buds grow just above 
the scars left by the fallen leaves, and before 
the leaves fall, they are found in the 
axil or angle made by the union of 
the leaf with the stem. On ac¬ 
count of their position these buds 
are called axillary. The figure 
shows the stem with its terminal 
bud, and the axillary buds separ¬ 
ated from one another by a con¬ 
siderable length of stem. These 
buds contain the rudiments of the 
next year’s growth, as we shall see 
if we cut one of them open. Fig. 2 
represents a diagram of a section 
of the terminal bud of the horse 
chestnut. It is found to be filled 
with leaves packed in and folded 
one over another, and all upon a 
stem, the joints of which are so 
short that the lower part of the 
leaves touch one another. The 
whole growth of the next year is 
, here, in an undeveloped state. 
chestnut. When vegetation starts m Spring, 
the short stem in the bud will elongate, and 
the leaves will expand to their full size, and 
thus complete the growth which has been pre¬ 
pared for and commenced the year beforehand. 
In most of our hardy trees and 
shrubs the annual growth is 
made in a very short time, and 
the rest of the season is em¬ 
ployed by them in ripening the 
wood and in preparing more 
buds for the following year. 
A terminal bud is again formed, 
the growth of which will length¬ 
en the stem, and others are 
formed in the axils of the leaves 
which will develope as side 
branches. With this brief sketch p; 
of the growth of a wood}' branch, 
let us see what there is like it in the cabbage. The 
early growth of a cabbage is much like that 
of a woody twig. The first leaves are at some 
distance apart, and as the lower ones fall away, 
after they have contributed to the growth of the 
stem, we find that they leave leaf scars (fig. 3, 
a, a,) similar to those on the horse-chestnut-, only 
longer and nearer together, and that above 
them are axillary buds, 5, b. When the plant 
■INTERIOR 
OF BUD. 
has obtained sufficient size and strength, it com¬ 
mences to form a large terminal bud, or head as 
we call it, and this consists, like the bud of the 
horse-chestnut, of undeveloped leaves crowded 
upon a stem, the inner leaves being gradually 
smaller and less developed than the outer. The 
figure shows the head cut open, and it is seen to 
be only a highly developed terminal bud, much 
like that of the horse-chestnut, only larger, con¬ 
taining numerous leaves, and in their axils quite 
conspicuous buds, c, c. In this condition the 
cabbage passes the Winter; when it is planted 
out in the Spring, the buds in the head start, and 
being supplied with the abundant nutriment 
which the fleshy stem and the thickened leaves 
contain, they grow very rapidly and bear flow¬ 
ers and seeds. If the head be removed and the 
stem or stump alone planted out, as is frequent¬ 
ly done, the axillary buds, b , b, will' start and 
throw out vigorous shoots. By cultivation and 
selection, varieties of cabbage have been obtain¬ 
ed in which the terminal bud attains an enor¬ 
mous size, while in its natural or wild state this 
is very small. To keep up the peculiarities of 
the different varieties, the best cultivators raise 
seed from well developed specimens only, the 
whole cabbage being planted out and only a few 
of the central shoots allowed to grow. In this 
way the whole vigor of the plant and all the 
accumulated nourishment is thrown into a few 
stems. Sometimes cultivators are much troubled 
with the bursting of the heads, especially with 
the early varieties. This usually takes place 
when a rain succeeds a drouth. The outer leaves 
stop increasing in size in a dry time, and when 
a succeeding rain causes the interior of the head 
to increase, the outer leaves do not grow, and 
being closely wrapped over one another, can 
not yield, but are ruptured by the pressure from 
within. We know of no other remedy than to 
lift the plants and thus stop their growth. The 
late sorts are not apt to be affected in this way. 
Long Miles. —Prentiss says: “ Recreants to 
their country’s service should be scourged 
wherever they go. Upon the road they travel 
there should be more than three hundred and 
i' twenty rods to every mile.” 
Fattening Sheep in Winter. 
If properly managed, the winter fattening of 
sheep may be made profitable. The first point 
of importance is, to have them come in from the 
pasture in thriving condition. It will hardly 
pay to attempt to winter poor weaklings, espec¬ 
ially where large numbers are kept; better se¬ 
cure their pelts at once; fattening such animals 
at this season is out of the question. The fol¬ 
lowing letter from John Johnston, Esq., of Ge¬ 
neva, New-York, well known as one of our most 
successful farmers, is to the point—we extract 
from H. S. Randall’s new and valuable work on 
sheep : He says: “ I generally buy my sheep in 
October. Then I have good pasture to put 
them on, and they gain a good deal before Win¬ 
ter sets in. I have generally had to nut them in 
the yards about the first of December. For 
23 years I have fed straw the first two or two 
and a half months, with a pound of oil cake, 
meal, or grain to each sheep. When I commence 
feeding hay, if it is good, early cut clover, I 
generally reduce the quantity of meal or grain 
one-half; but that depends on the condition of 
the sheep. If they are not pretty fat, I continue 
the full feed of meal or grain with their clover, 
and on both they fatten wonderfully fast. This 
year (1862-3) I fed buckwheat, a pound to each 
per day, half in the morning and half at 4 o’clock 
P. M., with wheat and barley straw. I found 
the sheep gained a little over a pound each per 
week. It never was profitable for me to com¬ 
mence fattening lean sheep, or very fat ones. 
Sheep should be tolerably fair mutton when 
yarded. I keep their yards and sheds thorough¬ 
ly littered with straw. 
“Last year I only fed straw one month. The 
sheep were fed a pound of buckwheat each. 
From the 20th of October to the 1st of March, 
they gained nearly lj- pounds each per week. 
They were full-blood Merinos—but not those 
with the large cravats around their necks. I 
have fed sheep for the eastern markets for more 
than 30 years, and I always made a profit on 
them except in 1841-2. I then fed at a loss. It 
was a tight squeeze in 1860-1 to get their dung 
for profit. Some years I have made largely. I 
did so this year (1862-3,) and if I had held on 
two weeks longer I should have made much 
more. Taking all together, it has been a good 
business for me.” 
American. Wool Manufacture. 
The American Stock Journal gives the fol¬ 
lowing statistics of wool manufactories in the 
United States: “ In Maine there are 32 woolen 
factories running 32 sets of cards; in Xew-Hamp¬ 
shire 56, with 228 sets of cards; in Vermont, the 
same number'of factories, with 122 sets of cards; 
in Massachusetts 154 factories, running 999 sets 
of cards; in Connecticut 93 factories, with 409 
sets of cards; in Rhode-Island, 56 factories and 
225 sets of cards; in New-York, 208 factories, 
with 441 sets of cards. They are devoted to the 
manufacture of satinets, cassimeres, cotton warp 
cloths, stocking yarn, worsted and woolen 
yarn, blankets and flannels, delaines, carpets, 
cashmeres, shawls, feltings, negro cloths and 
jeans, linseys, and a few other varieties of goods. 
A report on this subject was presented to the 
Boston Board of Trade, last year, by Mr. Geo. 
W. Bond, who stated that in the other States 
there were about five hundred sets of cards in 
operation. None of the finest broadcloths are 
yet made in the United States. Long wool with 
a silky luster is preferred, especially for the 
fabrics used for ladies’ dresses.” 
