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ground these seemed less hardy than those grown from 
seed. The assumption that plants grown in this way would. 
vary less than those grown from seed was not sustained, 
for the plants grown from the slips were by no means uni- 
form, nor did they head as well as did the parent plant. 
In this experiment, the slips were made from the stem 
leaves of a plant that was forming the flower stalk. The 
experiments have shown that slips taken from a plant that 
is in a condition of growth form the bud sooner than those 
from a dormant plant. 
A DESCRIPTION OF THE PRINCIPAL VARIETIES OF THE HEADING 
CABBAGE. 
Following the plan of the Director, an attempt is here 
offered of a description and classification of the principal 
varieties of the heading cabbage. Much difficulty was 
anticipated in the work, and much has been realized. The 
names and varieties are less numerous than in some other 
vegetables, but the extreme variability often shown in the 
plants from the same sample of seed, and the difficulty of 
deciding the amount of variation admissable within a 
variety, have been a constant source of embarrassment. 
The heading cabbage appears to be extremely subject to 
variation, a peculiarity for which the seed grower cannot 
be held entirely responsible. 
The attempt to. describe variables in terms sufficiently 
accurate to be of value in recognizing varieties is necessarily 
accompanied by difficulty. To pronounce closely related 
forms, which continually vary into each other as synonyms, 
which we must do if we follow strictly the spirit of botany, 
is to ignore the distinctions of different strains, a distinction 
which is often of very great importance to the market 
gardener. This attempt is offered, not because it is believed 
to be faultless, but because it is the best that I have been 
able to make. 
Thanks are due to Prof. W. W. Tracy, of Messrs. D. M. 
Ferry & Co., Detroit, Mich. ; to Mr. A. G. Tillinghast, of 
Padilla, W. T.; to Hon. J. J. H. Gregory, of Marbleheac _ 
Mass., and Mr. Francis Brill, of Riverhead, L. I., for valu- 
able information and assistance in relation to varieties. 
VARIETIES. 
In separating the cabbages into their varieties, not simply 
the head, but all of the visible characters have been taken 
into account, and it has seemed best not to accept much 
variation in a given character. Some of our horticultural 
writers have admitted much diversity in this respect, but if 
we allow this in one character we cannot consistently refuse 
