Cabbages and cauliflowers — Context and Discussion

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New York State College of Agriculture At Cornell University Ithaca, N. Y. Library

A PRACTICAL TREATISE, GIVING FULL DETAILS ON EVERY POINT, INCLUDING KEEPING AND MARKETING THE CROP.

ORIGINAL INTRODUCER OF THE MARBLEHEAD, DEEP HEAD, WARREN, ALL SEASONS, HARD HEADING, AND REYNOLDS CABBAGES.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1889, by JAMES J. H. GREGORY, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.

PAGE OBJECT OF TREATISE 1

THE ORIGIN OF CABBAGE 1

HOW TO APPLY THE MANURE 8

MAKING THE HILLS AND PLANTING THE SEED 11

CARE OF THE YOUNG PLANTS 16

PROTECTING THE PLANTS FROM THEIR ENEMIES 18

CLUB, OR STUMP ROOT, OR MAGGOT 24

CARE OF THE GROWING CROP 29

MARKETING THE CROP 30

KEEPING CABBAGE THROUGH THE WINTER 32

HAVING CABBAGE MAKE HEADS IN WINTER 39

FOREIGN VARIETIES OF CABBAGE 43-45

AMERICAN VARIETIES 46-60

SAVOY VARIETIES 60-63

OTHER VARIETIES 63-67

RAISING CABBAGE SEED 73

COOKING CABBAGE, SOUR-KROUT, ETC. 75

CABBAGE UNDER GLASS 76

COLD FRAME AND HOT-BED 78

CAULIFLOWER, BROCCOLI, BRUSSELS-SPROUTS, KALE AND SEA-KALE 81

CABBAGES AND CAULIFLOWERS.

OBJECT OF THIS TREATISE.

As a general, yet very thorough, response to inquiries from many of my customers about cabbage raising, I have aimed in this treatise to tell them all about the subject. The different inquiries made from time to time have given me a pretty clear idea of the many heads under which information is wanted; and it has been my aim to give this with the same thoroughness of detail as in my little work on Squashes. I have endeavored to talk in a very practical way, drawing from a large observation and experience, and receiving, in describing varieties, some valuable information from McIntosh's work, "The Book of the Garden."

THE ORIGIN OF CABBAGE.

Botanists tell us that all of the Cabbage family, which includes not only every variety of cabbage, Red, White, and Savoy, but all the cauliflower, broccoli, kale, and brussels sprouts, had their origin in the wild cabbage of Europe (_Brassica oleracea_), a plant with green, wavy leaves, much resembling charlock, found growing wild at Dover in England, and other parts of Europe. This plant, says McIntosh, is mostly confined to the sea-shore, and grows only on chalky or calcareous soils.

Thus through the wisdom of the Great Father of us all, who occasionally in his great garden allows vegetables to sport into a higher form of life, and grants to some of these sports sufficient strength of individuality to enable them to perpetuate themselves, and, at times, to blend their individuality with that of other sports, we have the heading cabbage in its numerous varieties, the creamy cauliflower, the feathery kale, the curled savoy. On my own grounds from a strain of seed that had been grown isolated for years, there recently came a plant that in its structure closely resembled Brussels Sprouts, growing about two feet in height, with a small head under each leaf. The cultivated cabbage was first introduced into England by the Romans, and from there nearly all the kinds cultivated in this country were originally brought. Those which we consider as peculiarly American varieties, have only been made so by years of careful improvement on the original imported sorts. The characteristics of these varieties will be given farther on.

If we cut vertically through the middle of the head, we shall find it made up of successive layers of leaves, which grow smaller and smaller, almost _ad infinitum_. Now, if we take a fruit bud from an apple-tree and make a similar section of it, we shall find the same structure. If we observe the development of the two, as spring advances, we shall find another similarity (the looser the head the closer will be the resemblance),--the outer leaves of each will unwrap and unfold, and a flower stem will push out from each. Here we see that a cabbage is a bud, a seed bud (as all fruit buds may be termed, the production of seed being the primary object in nature, the fruit enclosing it playing but a secondary part), the office of the leaves being to cover, protect, and afterwards nourish the young seed shoot. The outer leaves which surround the head appear to have the same office as the leaves which surround the growing fruit bud, and that office closes with the first year, as does that of the leaves surrounding fruit buds, when each die and drop off. In my locality the public must have perceived more or less clearly the analogy between the heads of cabbage and the buds of trees, for when they speak of small heads they frequently call them "buds." That the close wrapped leaves which make the cabbage head and surround the seed germ, situated just in the middle of the head at the termination of the stump, are necessary for its protection and nutrition when young, is proved, I think, by the fact that those cabbages, the heads of which are much decayed, when set out for seed, no matter how sound the seed germ may be at the end of the stump, never make so large or healthy a seed shoot as those do the heads of which are sound; as a rule, after pushing a feeble growth, they die.

For this reason I believe that the office of the head is similar to and as necessary as that of the leaves which unwrap from around the blossom buds of our fruit trees. It is true that the parallel cannot be fully maintained, as the leaves which make up the cabbage head do not to an equal degree unfold (particularly is this true of hard heads); yet they exhibit a vitality of their own, which is seen in the deeper green color the outer leaves soon attain, and the change from tenderness to toughness in their structure: I think, therefore, that the degree of failure in the parallel may be measured by the difference between a higher and a lower form of organic life.

Some advocate the economy of cutting off a large portion of the heads when cabbages are set out for seed to use as food for stock. There is certainly a great temptation, standing amid acres of large, solid, heads in the early spring months, when green food of all kinds is scarce, to cut and use such an immense amount of rich food, which, to the inexperienced eye, appears to be utterly wasted if left to decay, dry, and fall to the ground; but, for the reason given above, I have never done so. It is possible that large heads may bear trimming to a degree without injury to the seed crop; yet I should consider this an experiment, and one to be tried with a good deal of caution.

In some of the best cabbage-growing sections of the country, until within a comparatively few years it was the very general belief that cabbage would not do well on upland. Accordingly the cabbage patch would be found on the lowest tillage land of the farm. No doubt, the lowest soil being the richer from a gradual accumulation of the wash from the upland, when manure was but sparingly used, cabbage would thrive better there than elsewhere,--and not, as was generally held, because that vegetable needed more moisture than any other crop. Cabbage can be raised with success on any good corn land, provided such land is well manured; and there is no more loss in seasons of drouth on such land than there is in seasons of excessive moisture on the lower tillage land of the farm. I wish I could preach a very loud sermon to all my farmer friends on the great value of liberal manuring to carry crops successfully through the effects of a severe drouth. Crops on soil precisely alike, with but a wall to separate them, will, in a very dry season, present a striking difference,--the one being in fine vigor, and the other "suffering from drouth," as the owner will tell you; but, in reality, from want of food.

The smaller varieties of cabbage will thrive well on either light or strong soil, but the largest drumheads do best on strong soil. For the _Brassica_ family, including cabbages, cauliflowers, turnips, etc., there is no soil so suitable as freshly turned sod, provided the surface is well fined by the harrow; it is well to have as stout a crop of clover or grass, growing on this sod, when turned under, as possible, and I incline to the belief that it would be a judicious investment to start a thick growth of these by the application of guano to the surface sufficiently long before turning the sod to get an extra growth of the clover or grass. If the soil be very sandy in character, I would advise that the variety planted be the Winnigstadt, which, in my experience, is unexcelled for making a hard head under almost any conditions, however unpropitious. Should the soil be naturally very wet it should be underdrained, or stump foot will be very likely to appear, which is death to all success.

Should the soil be a heavy clay, a deep fall ploughing is best, that the frosts of winter may disintegrate it; and should the plan be to raise an early crop, this end will be promoted by fall ploughing, on any soil, as the land will thereby be made drier in early spring. In New England the soil for cabbages should be ploughed as deep as the subsoil, and the larger drumheads should be planted only on the deepest soil. If the season should prove a favorable one, a good crop of cabbage may be grown on sod broken up immediately after a crop of hay has been taken from it, provided plenty of fine manure is harrowed in. One great risk here is from the dry weather that usually prevails at that season, preventing the prompt germination of the seed, or rooting of the plants. It is prudent in such a case to have a good stock of plants, that such as die may be promptly replaced. It is wise to plant the seed for these a week earlier than the main crop, for when transplanted to fill the vacant places it will take about a week for them to get well rooted.

The manure may be spread on the surface of either sod or stubble land and ploughed under, or be spread on the surface after ploughing and thoroughly worked into the soil by the wheel harrow or cultivator. On ploughed sod I have found nothing so satisfactory as the class of wheel harrows, which not only cut the manure up fine and work it well under, but by the same operation cut and pulverize the turf until the sod may be left not over an inch in thickness. To do the work thus thoroughly requires a yoke of oxen or a pair of stout horses. All large stones and large pieces of turf that are torn up and brought to the surface should be carted off before making the hills.

Any manure but hog manure for cabbage,--barn manure, rotten kelp, night-soil, guano, fertilizers, wood ashes, fish, salt, glue waste, hen manure, slaughter-house manure. I have used all of these, and found them all good when rightly applied. If pure hog manure is used it is apt to produce that corpulent enlargement of the roots known in different localities as "stump foot," "underground head," "finger and thumb;" but I have found barn manure on which hogs have run, two hogs to each animal, excellent. The cabbage is the rankest of feeders, and to perfect the larger sort a most liberal allowance of the richest composts is required. To grow the smaller varieties either barn-yard manure, guano, fertilizers, or wood ashes, if the soil be in good condition, will answer; though the richer and more abundant the manure the larger are the cabbages, and the earlier the crop will mature.

To perfect the large varieties of drumhead,--by which I mean to make them grow to the greatest size possible,--I want a strong compost of barn-yard manure, with night-soil and muck or fish-waste, and, if possible, rotten kelp. A compost into which night-soil enters as a component is best made by first covering a plot of ground, of easy access, with soil or muck that has been exposed to a winter's frost, to the depth of about eighteen inches, and raising around this a rim about three feet in height, and thickness. Into this the night-soil is poured from carts built for the purpose, until the receptacle is about two-thirds full. Barn manure is now added, being dropped around and covering the outer rim, and, if the supply is sufficient, on the top of the heap also, on which it can be carted after cold weather sets in. Early in spring, the entire mass should be pitched over, thoroughly broken up with the bar and pick where frozen, and the frozen masses thrown on the surface. In pitching over the mass, work the rim in towards the middle of the heap. After the frozen lumps have thawed, give the heap another pitching over, aiming to mix all the materials thoroughly together, and make the entire mass as fine as possible. A covering of sand, thrown over the heap, before the last pitching, will help fine it.

To produce a good crop of cabbages, with a compost of this quality, from six to twelve cords will be required to the acre. If the land is in good heart, by previous high cultivation, or the soil is naturally very strong, six cords will give a fair crop of the small varieties; while, with the same conditions, from nine to twelve cords to the acre will be required to perfect the largest variety grown, the Marblehead Mammoth Drumhead.

Of the other kinds of manure named above, I will treat farther under the head of:

HOW TO APPLY THE MANURE.

The manure is sometimes applied wholly in the hill, at other times partly broadcast and partly in the hill. If the farmer desires to make the utmost use of his manure for that season, it will be best to put most of it into the hill, particularly if his supply runs rather short; but if he desires to leave his land in good condition for next year's crop, he had better use part of it broadcast. My own practice is to use all my rich compost broadcast, and depend on guano, fertilizers, or hen manure in the hill. Let all guano, if at all lumpy, like the Peruvian, be sifted, and let all the hard lumps be reduced by pounding, until the largest pieces shall not be larger than half a pea, before it is brought upon the ground. My land being ready, the compost worked under and the rows marked out, I select three trusty hands who can be relied upon to follow faithfully my directions in applying so dangerous manure as guano is in careless or ignorant hands; one takes a bucket of it, and, if for large cabbage, drops as much as he can readily close in his shut hand, where each hill is to be; if for small sorts, then about half that quantity, spreading it over a circle about a foot in diameter; the second man follows with a pronged hoe, or better yet, a six-tined fork, with which he works the guano well into the soil, first turning it three or four inches under the surface, and then stirring the soil _very thoroughly_ with the hoe or fork. Unless the guano (and this is also true of most fertilizers) is faithfully mixed up with the soil, the seed will not vegetate. Give the second man about an hour the start, and then let the third man follow with the seed. Of other fertilizers, I use about half as much again as of guano to each hill, and of hen manure a heaping handful, after it has been finely broken up, and, if moist, slightly mixed with dry earth. When salt is used, it should not be depended on exclusively, but be used in connection with other manures, at the rate of from ten to fifteen bushels to the acre, applied broadcast over the ground, or thoroughly mixed with the manure before that is applied; if dissolved in the manure, better yet. Salt itself is not a manure. Its principal office is to change other materials into plant food. Fish and glue waste are exceedingly powerful manures, very rich in ammonia, and, if used the first season, they should be in compost. It is best to handle fish waste, such as heads, entrails, backbones, and liver waste, precisely like night soil. "Porgy cheese," or "chum," the refuse, after pressing out the oil from menhaden and halibut heads, and sometimes sold extensively for manure, is best prepared for use by composting it with muck or loam, layer with layer, at the rate of a barrel to every foot and a half, cord measure, of soil. As soon as it shows some heat, turn it, and repeat the process, two or three times, until it is well decomposed, when apply. Another excellent way to use fish waste is to compost it with barn manure, in the open fields. It will be best to have six inches of soil under the heap, and not layer the fish with the lower half of the manure, for it strikes down. Glue waste is a very coarse, lumpy manure, and requires a great deal of severe manipulation, if it is to be applied the first season. A better way is to compost it with soil, layer with layer, having each layer about a foot in thickness, and so allow it to remain over until the next season, before using. This will decompose most of the straw, and break down the hard, tough lumps. In applying this to the crop, most of it had better be used broadcast, as it is apt, at best, to be rather too coarse and concentrated to be used liberally directly in the hill. Slaughter-house manure should be treated much like glue manure.

Mr. Proctor, of Beverly, has raised cabbage successfully on strong clay soil, by spreading a compost of muck containing fish waste, in which the fish is well decomposed, at the rate of two tons of the fish to an acre of land, after plowing, and then, having made his furrows at the right distance apart, harrowing the land thoroughly crossways with the furrows. The result was, besides mixing the manure thoroughly with the soil, to land an extra proportion of it in the furrows, which was equivalent to manuring in the drill.

Cabbage can be raised on fertilizers alone. I have raised some crops in this way; but have been led to plow in from four to six cords of good manure to the acre, and then use from five hundred to a thousand pounds of some good fertilizer in the hill. The reason I prefer to use a portion of the cabbage food in the form of manure, is, that I have noticed that when the attempt is made to raise the larger drumhead varieties on fertilizers only, the cabbages, just as the heads are well formed, are apt to come nearly to a standstill. I explain this on the supposition that they exhaust most of the fertilizer, or some one of the ingredients that enter into it, during the earlier stage of growth; perhaps from the fact that the food is in so easily digestible condition, they use an over share of it, and the fact that those fed on fertilizers only, tend to grow longer stumped than usual, appears to give weight to this opinion. Though any good fertilizer is good for cabbage, yet I prefer those compounded on the basis of an analysis of the composition of the plants; they should contain the three ingredients, nitrogen, potash, and phosphoric acid, in the proportion of six, seven, five, taking them in the order in which I have written them.

MAKING THE HILLS AND PLANTING THE SEED.