250 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[July, 
Strong stocks only are safe. I will not repeal now all 
the directions for securing strong stocks, but only add 
that every worm, small or great, should be thoroughly 
crushed whenever found, and one point towards strong 
stocks is gained. 
Cabbages as a Field Crop. 
The value of the cabbage as food for stock 
is rarely considered. Yet as a fodder crop to 
be consumed in summer when the freshness of 
the pastures is past, or as green winter fodder 
for young stock, fattening stock, milk cows or 
sheep, w 7 e know of none better. The value of 
the cabbage as compared with other fodder, 
known to be of the greatest excellence, may be 
seen by the following statement of the compo¬ 
sition of the various substances here mentioned: 
for instance, there is in 1,000 parts of 
Water. Asti. Pot¬ 
ash. 
Lime. 
Phos- Soda. Mag- 
phom'c nesia. 
acid. 
Green clover 800 
13.4 
4.6 
4.6 
1.3 
0.2 1.6 
Green peas 815 
13.7 
5.6 
3.9 
1.8 
— 1.1 
Sugar beet roots 816 
18.0 
4.0 
0.5 
1.1 
0.8 0.7 
“ leaves 840 
6.5 
1.9 
0.6 
0.8 
1.6 0.7 
Cabbage 885 
12.4 
6.0 
1.9 
2.0 
0.5 0.4 
Considering the excess of phosphoric acid, | 
which is the most valuable of all the con¬ 
stituents of the ash, the cabbage is seen to be 
quite equal to sugar beets as a fodder, while this 
excess gives to it a special value for young and 
growing or milking animals. 
Again if we compare the amount of valuable 
organic matter contained in clover and cabbage, 
we find the following, viz., in 100 parts of 
Albuminoids 
Carbo-h ydrates. 
Fat. Crude 
Water, or.flesh form¬ 
or fat formers. 
fiber. 
ers. 
Clover 
80 3.3 
7.7 
0.7 4.5 
Cabbage 
89 1.5 
6.3 
0.4 2.0 
Turnips 
92 1.1 
5.1 
0.1 1.0 
Thus although cabbage is not so nutritious as 
clover, yet the large amount of water it con¬ 
tains makes it a valuable fodder for winter 
when given with dry food, and it contains a 
very small portion of crude indigestible matter. 
It is, however, considerably more nutritious 
than turnips. The carbo - hydrates consist 
mainly of starch and gum. These substances 
are largely consumed in the respiratory process 
and help greatly to maintain the natural heat 
of the animal. As a winter food, therefore, 
the cabbage is seen to possess a high value, being 
superior to turnips and only slightly inferior 
to clover. From our own experience with it 
we consider it the very best food for ewes pre¬ 
vious to and after lambing, as it causes a 
.arge flow oi milk; and also far better than 
turnips, because no cutting is necessary and 
there is no danger of choking. The same 
advantages apply to it as feed for milk cows. 
For its culture considerable previous prepara¬ 
tion is necessary, and for a crop for next sea¬ 
son it is net too early now to begin to prepare 
the seed-bed. One great advantage of this 
crop is that a succession may be grown and an 
early crop may be ready for use in August, at 
which time it will be found of the greatest value 
for cows that are in milk. For this early crop 
the plants must be grown in the fall and win¬ 
tered over in cold frames. The bed for the 
plants should be chosen in a dry, warm, shel¬ 
tered place, and the soil should be carefully 
dug over with the spade or the fork, and made 
fine and mellow, and rich with well-rotted 
manure. For each acre of crop a bed of two 
square rods will be sufficient, upon which space 
one pound of seed should be sown. Drill 
sowing will be found more convenient than 
broadcast, as it will be necessary to keep the 
bed clear from weeds and the hoe can be used 
between the drills. The seed should not be 
sown until the end of August or early in Sep¬ 
tember. We have found the large Drumhead 
the best for this early crop, as it is very hardy 
and upon rich ground comes forward quickly 
in the spring and grows to a large size. Heads 
weighing twenty pounds and over are not un¬ 
common in a field of this variety. When the 
plants are about four weeks old it is best to 
transplant them to the spaces between the drills, 
by which they are checked in their upward 
growth and make more stocky plants with 
more spreading roots. The frames may be 
made by placing boards upon their edges be¬ 
tween the rows about four feet apart, and nail¬ 
ing strips to hold each pair of boards together. 
The strips may be nailed about three or four 
feet apart, and loose boards laid between the 
strips to complete the covering. The loose 
boards may be removed during the days when 
the weather is not too severe, to give light and 
air to the plants. Upon very cold nights straw 
or coarse hay may be heaped upon the frames 
for protection. 
The ground for this crop may be a corn or 
oat stubble plowed in the fall and manured 
well with ten to twelve two-horse loads of fine 
manure directly upon the plowed ground. The 
soil and manure should be mixed by a thor¬ 
ough harrowing or working with the cultivator, 
and then lightly cross plowed and left rough 
until spring. In spring, as early as possible, 
the ground should be harrowed level and 
marked out into rows three feet apart. A dress¬ 
ing of 200 pounds of fine bone-dust, superphos¬ 
phate of lime, or guano spread in the rows will 
be found of great benefit. The plants should be 
set out two feet apart in the rows, and if troubled 
with the flea they should be dusted over with 
fine dry-slacked lime or soot. Clean cultivation 
is needed. A later crop may be made from 
plants sown in a hot-bed in March and planted 
out in May and June. For this crop we have 
found the Early Winningstadt an excellent 
variety, and growing to a good size. The late 
crop will be raised from seed sown in an 
open bed in May and planted out in July, and 
the Marblehead Mammoth or the Drumhead 
are probably the best varieties. If a piece of 
clover sod can be plowed and well manured 
early in this month, it will pay to purchase 
plants from the seedsmen if they have not 
been prepared at home. A good clover sod 
turned under has yielded us an excellent crop, 
and we have also raised a good crop by plant¬ 
ing cabbages between the hills of corn and 
working them with the hoe. For these late 
crops and such a catch crop as that raised with 
corn we have found Peruvian guano or fish 
guano the best fertilizer. With a small hand¬ 
ful of fish guano with every plant we have 
raised some good cabbages in a cornfield; but 
where a piece of ground can be specially de¬ 
voted to them it will be found the best, although 
where it can not be had we would by all means 
raise what we could in every available spot, 
either with the corn or in vacant spaces 
amongst the potatoes. Over 7,000 plants may be 
raised upon an acre, and if by careful cultiva¬ 
tion and liberal manuring heads of an average 
weight of six pounds only are grown, there will 
be twenty tons of most excellent and healthful 
fodder. Such a crop is by no means beyond 
the range of probability where the proper 
attention is given. We know of few crops 
which return a greater value for the labor ex¬ 
pended, and it is one which stands heat and 
drouth better than turnips and equally well 
as mangels. 
Ogden Farm Papers,—No. 53. 
I have had an unusual amount of correspon¬ 
dence lately concerning land drainage, and 
there is evidently a decided revival of interest 
on the subject among farmers in various parts 
of the country—enough to justify a repetition 
of some points which are to be found in detail 
in the books on draining. 
To begin with, there is no special charm in 
burned clay which will make wet land dry, and 
poor land rich, by the mere effect of its being 
buried a certain number of feet below the sur¬ 
face. In fact, the material in itself has nothing 
whatever to do with the effect of a drain, so 
long as it remains good. What is needed is an 
open channel, at the proper depth, through 
which water can find its way; having a con¬ 
tinuous fall, so that it will be easier for the 
water at every point to run off through the 
opening than to soak away into the ground; 
and placed at a sufficient depth to leave enough 
dry soil above it for crops to grow to the best 
advantage. If such a channel exists it makes 
no difference what means have been used to 
obtain it. While it exists and is kept open from 
end to end, it will answer all the purposes of a 
good drain, whether it is made of tiles, of stone¬ 
work, of gravel, of plank, of brush, or of any 
other material. A drain made by a mole-plow, 
so long as it remains a drain, is just as effective 
as though it were laid with the best tiles. 
The considerations which should decide us 
in selecting the kind of drain to be used are 
cost and durability. The best, and in the end 
the cheapest, drain—where tiles are accessible 
at reasonable cost—is one properly laid with a 
good quality of small round tiles, having collars 
or sleeves to keep the pipes in line, and to in¬ 
crease the facility of entrance of the water. 
Such a drain is practically indestructible, and 
should last as long as the land itself. Where 
good gravel can be had on the farm, an excel¬ 
lent drain may be made by digging a narrow 
ditch and filling it to a depth of six or eight 
inches with gravel from which all stones over 
an inch in diameter and all fine dirt have been 
carefully screened. A drain made in this way 
will last almost indefinitely, and will be com¬ 
paratively inexpensive. Brush laid in the bot¬ 
tom of a wider ditch, well tramped down, and 
covered with inverted sods before the earth is 
thrown in,will often last for many years and 
do good service. Poles and board trunks are 
also pretty good. 
Stones are a favorite material, and it is pos¬ 
sible to make a good and permanent drain with 
them—but they have the disadvantage of being 
very costly. It is a quite common opinion that 
tiles are more expensive than stones. I should 
say that wherever the smallest tiles can be laid 
down on the farm for $50 per thousand feet it 
will be cheaper to use them than to use stones, 
although these may be immediately at hand. 
A ditch for a tile-drain requires certainly not 
more than three-fifths as much digging and 
back filling as one for a stone drain, and the 
cost of collecting, handling, and placing the 
stones will usually be nearly if not quite as 
great as the cost of tiles—it is often more. Be¬ 
cause the stones are procured and put in place 
without the actual outlay of cash, the expense 
is not always felt; but if it does not cost money, 
it does cost money’s worth, and it would often 
be an economy to work out by the day and use 
the wages to buy tiles rather than to spend so 
much labor in hauling, preparing, and hand¬ 
ling stones. 
Good gravel, prepared as above stated, is often 
