Oie RURAL NEW-YORKER 
645 
The Vegetable Garden 
The 1918 Cabbage Bed 
Cabbage growers can afford to take no 
chances in 1918. New York State is far 
in advance in cabbage production of any 
other State in the Union, and Cortland 
County is one of the leading sections of 
the State. The Cortland County Farm 
Bureau is giving some brief cabbage 
pointers that are valuable to all inter¬ 
ested in the crop, having gleaned the lore 
from exhaustive tests made on 18 farms 
of the county by Allen S. Merchant, man¬ 
ager of the Farm Bureau. These tests all 
coincide %vith the experience and teach¬ 
ings of Reed Brothers of Cortland, who 
are recognized as the leading growers of 
the State. The pointers may be summed 
up briefly as follows: 
1. Buy seed carefully. Cabbage diseases 
usually date back to the seed. Home¬ 
grown seed where a systematic selection 
of the best type heads is made is far pref¬ 
erable, being a great factor in developing 
a heavy yielding strain of cabbage. Most 
of the commercial cabbage seed is grown 
from immature heads, and absolutely no 
selective system is practiced. 
2. Treat all seed for disease, unless it 
is positively known to be free from all in¬ 
fection. Two years ago one batch of seed 
used in this county and not treated ruined 
the crop on many hundred acres—entire 
fields of eight to 10 acres not having a 
salable head. Avhen other cabbage from 
clean, home-grown seed produced heav.v 
, crops, with other conditions equal. Soak 
the seed for 15 minutes in one pint of 
warm water, in which a corrosive subli¬ 
mate tablet, costing 2c, is dissolved. Dry 
on a white cloth quickly in a cool, shady 
place; a very quick, inexpensive operation 
which absolutely insures against black 
heart or .stump-rot, the worst foes of the 
cabbage grower. 
8. Prepare a fine, deep seed bed for 
both the plant bed and the field crop, 
plowing early, and harrowing at least 
once a week until setting time, or June 
15, to secure fine pulverizing and to kill 
all sprouting weed seeds. 
4. Fertilize well. Cabbage is one of 
the heaviest feeders grow'ii. Experiments 
on 18 farms in Cortland County showed 
that 750 lbs. of acid phosphate 110%), 
with 10 tons of manure, gave the greatest 
net profit, or over .$58 per acre for the 
fertilizers. Apply broadcast one day to 
two weeks before planting. 
5. Locate seed bed carefully, away from 
disease. Avoid the use of manure if made 
from diseased cabbage. Avoid manure 
from an old barnyard, or laud which is 
flood washed, as such may contain mus¬ 
tard, which is pretty sure to bring club¬ 
foot. An old sod in pasture is "best—and 
hen manure free from weed seeds is best 
for the seed bed. 
0. Fertilize the seed bed with 100 lbs. 
of complete fertilizer and 100 lbs. of lime 
or wood ashes to the 2,000 sq. ft. neces¬ 
sary for one lb. of seed. This will set 
two acres of cabbage if it is an open bed. 
8ow the seed broadcast, mixing it with 
about equal parts of sharp sand, to in¬ 
crease the bulk and secure evenness of 
distribution. 
7. Sow the seed early, as soon after* 
May 1 as possible. 
8. Screen the seed bed if possible, or 
at least one-half of it. This has been 
found to be most important in guarantee¬ 
ing large, well-developed plants regardless 
of weather conditions, ready for trans¬ 
planting by .Tune 15. Last year was a 
very backward season, and those who did 
not screen their beds were two to four 
weeks later in transplanting, and had far 
inferior plants. Cheesecloth is high this 
year, but at a cost of 25e per 1,000 
plants for the first year the plants caa 
be screened effectively, and if properly 
cared for the cloth can be used four to 
six or more years. Last year some Cort¬ 
land beds were covered with cloth which 
had seen five years’ use, and was good 
for another year anyway. Drive down 
10 to 12-inch stakes w'hich are two inches 
square, at distances of about six feet 
apart, and enclose the outside of the bed 
with six-inch to eight-inch boards, well 
banked with earth on the outside to keep 
out insects. The cloth should be sewn 
together on the sewing machine, with a 
strip of paper run through with it to 
give the material body and help to feed 
it. then tack closely to the board sides. 
A few tightly drawn wires across the 
center of the bed will keep it from sag¬ 
ging on to the plants, and if the wind 
causes it to whip up and down lay a 
strip or two of light board across the 
top. Remove the cloth a week to 10 
days before transplanting, to allow the 
plants to harden off. The plants will 
grow twice as fast if screened in this 
way, as the moisture is more even and 
the temperature under the cloth is 10 to 
18 degrees warmer. Also only one-half 
the seed need be used to set the same 
area to cabbages, as the germination is 
much better. At .$4 to .$12 a pound for 
seed one can save the cost of the cheese¬ 
cloth on the lessened amount of seed 
needed in a short time. 
9. Transplant into the field not later 
than June 15. ,Tuly is far too late. The 
ground gets too dry. and the plants are 
handicapped for the whole season, often 
making less than half the weight per acre, 
all other conditions being equal. Late- 
set plants grow soft heads, with far less 
of them of marketable quality, while all 
are lighter in weight. 
10. When transplanting dip the plants 
all over in a %-pt. Black Leaf 40 solu¬ 
tion, with 4 lbs. dissolved soap to 60 to 
80 gallons of water, and lb. arsenate 
of lead to each 14 qts. of the solution. 
This kills the cabbage lice which are such 
a pest later—also the cabbage worm— 
by poisoning the first hatch or crop. Tlie 
later crop will then be so small as to be 
unimportant. A sticker made of 2 lbs. 
resin and 1 lb. sal soda boiled to an amber’ 
color in one gallon of water will insure 
the solution’s not Avashing off in rains. 
11. Be sure the .soil is very finel.v pul¬ 
verized and not too dry when transplant¬ 
ing. Squeeze up a handful of soil, and 
if it will retain its shape it has moisture 
enough. Do not transplant .iust ahead of 
a big rain, as a crust forms about the 
plants, holding them back, 
12. A variety of cabbage-setting ma¬ 
chines is used in the count.v. Due home¬ 
made barrel setter has been in use 25 
years, and still does fine work. Perhaps 
the best results are obtained by the use 
of the Masters hand-setter, which sets 
the plant, waters it, and leaves a dust 
mulch about the plant. This permits of 
check rowing—about 21 ins.x.'ll ins. being 
the ideal distance for setting. This allow.s 
of two cultivations the narrow way, and 
no hand-hoeing is needed. at. o. f. 
Cross-bred Squashes 
Though not a horticultural expert, I 
can assure Mr. C. Drew, Ohio (page 
274), that the female flowers of the com¬ 
mon squash, pumpkin, cucumber and mel¬ 
on varieties are not self-fertile. His ex¬ 
perience is unusual, though not impos¬ 
sible, as I had a somewhat similar experi¬ 
ence, but with seed from a Delicious 
squash that had been, when the blossom 
was open, plentifully supplied with pump¬ 
kin pollen. My squash finally showed its 
hybrid character by producing sterile 
plants in the second generation, so I lost 
it. As Mr. Drew’s pumpkin is prolific 
enough it leads one to suspect that it may 
haA^e got some pollen more nearly con¬ 
genial than from the Delicious squash, as, 
for instance, from the Fordhook type of 
squash which crosses readily with the 
sugar pumpkin and might improve its 
quality. The fact that the shape and ap¬ 
pearance of the succeeding crop of pump¬ 
kins in Mr. Drew’s case was not changed 
from the parent type, while not conclusive 
of course, points to the probability that 
the pumpkin blossom, in spite of precau¬ 
tions, was supplied in some manner Avith 
pumpkin pollen. w. E. D. 
Hillsboro, O. 
The druggist danced and chortled till 
the bottles danced on the shelves. “What’s 
up?” asked the soda clerk. “Have you 
been taking something?’’ “No. But do 
you remember when our water pipes AA'ere 
frozen last Winter?” “Yes, but what—” 
“Well, the plumber aa4io fixed them has 
just come in to have ji prescription filled.” 
—Pittsburgh Chrou iele-Telegraph. 
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