Instead of burying them in an upright position, after a deep furrow has been made the cabbages are sometimes laid on their sides two deep, with their roots at the bottom of the furrow, and covered with earth in this position. Where the winter climate is so mild that a shallow covering will be sufficient protection, this method saves much labor.
HAVING CABBAGE MAKE HEADS IN WINTER.
When a piece of drumhead has been planted very late (sometimes they are planted on ground broken up after a crop of hay has been taken from it the same season), there will be a per cent. of the plants when the growing season is over that have not headed. With care almost all of these can be made to head during the winter. A few years ago I selected my seed heads from a large piece and then sold the first "pick" of what remained at ten cents a head, the second at eight cents, and so down until all were taken for which purchasers were willing to give one cent each. Of course, after such a thorough selling out as this, there was not much in the shape of a head left. I now had what remained pulled up and carted away, doubtful whether to feed them to the cows or to set them out to head up during winter. As they were very healthy plants in the full vigor of growth, having rudimentary heads just gathering in, I determined to set them out. I had a pit dug deep enough to bring the tops of the heads, when the plants were stood upright as they grew, just above the surface of the ground; I then stood the cabbages in without breaking off any of the leaves, keeping the roots well covered with earth, having the plants far enough apart not to crowd each other very much, though so near as to press somewhat together the two outer circles of leaves. They were allowed to remain in this condition until it was cold enough to freeze the ground an inch in thickness, when a covering of coarse hay was thrown over them a couple of inches thick, and, as the cold increased in intensity, this covering was increased to ten or twelve inches in thickness, the additions being made at two or three intervals. In the spring I uncovered the lot, and found that nearly every plant had headed up. I sold the heads for four cents a pound; and these refuse cabbages averaged me about ten cents a head, which was the price my best heads brought me in the fall. I have seen thousands of cabbages in one lot, the refuse of several acres that had been planted on sod land broken up the same season a crop of hay had been taken from it, made to head by this course, and sold in the spring for $1.30 per barrel. When there is a large lot of such cabbages the most economical way to plant them will be in furrows made by the plough. Most of the bedding used in covering them, if it be as coarse as it ought to be to admit as much air as possible while it should not mat down on the cabbages, will, with care in drying, be again available for covering another season, or remain suitable for bedding purposes. These "winter-headed" cabbages, as they are called in the market, are not so solid and have more shrinkage to them than those headed in the open ground; hence they will not bear transportation as well, neither will they keep as long when exposed to the air. The effect of wintering cabbage by burying in the soil is to make them exceedingly tender for table use.
VARIETIES OF CABBAGE.
If a piece of land is planted with seed grown from two heads of cabbage the product will bear a striking resemblance to the two parent cabbages, with a third variety which will combine the characteristics of these two, yet the resemblance will be somewhat modified at times by a little more manure, a little higher culture, a little better location, and the addition of an individuality that particular vegetables occasionally take upon themselves which we designate by the word "sport." The "sports" when they occur are fixed and perpetuated with remarkable readiness in the cabbage family, as is proved by a great number of varieties in cultivation, which are the numerous progeny of one ancestor. The catalogues of the English and French seedsmen contain long lists of varieties, many of which (and this is especially true of the early kinds) are either the same variety under a different name or are different "strains" of the same variety produced by the careful selections of prominent market gardeners through a series of years.
Every season I experiment with foreign and American varieties of cabbage to learn the characteristics of the different kinds, their comparative earliness, size, shape, and hardness of head, length of stump, and such other facts as would prove of value to market gardeners. There is one fact that every careful experimenter soon learns, that one season will not teach all that can be known relative to a variety, and that a number of specimens of each kind must be raised to enable one to make a fair comparison. It is amusing to read the dicta which appear in the agricultural press from those who have made but a single experiment with some vegetable; they proclaim more after a single trial than a cautious experimenter would dare to declare after years spent in careful observation. The year 1869 I raised over sixty varieties of cabbage, importing nearly complete suites of those advertised by the leading English and French seed houses, and collecting the principal kinds raised in this country. In the year 1888, I grew eighty-five different varieties and strains of cabbages and cauliflowers. I do not propose describing all these in this treatise or their comparative merits; of some of them I have yet something to learn, but I will endeavor to introduce with my description such notes as I think will prove of value to my fellow farmers and market gardeners.
I will here say in general of the class of early cabbages, that most of them have elongated heads between ovoid and conical in form. They appear to lack in this country the sweetness and tenderness that characterize some varieties of our drumhead, and, consequently, in the North when the drumhead enters the market there is but a limited call for them.
It may be well here to note a fundamental distinction between the drumhead cabbage of England and those of this country. In England the drumhead class are almost wholly raised to feed to stock. I venture the conjecture that owing in part, or principally, to the fact European gardeners have never had the motive, and, consequently, have never developed the full capacity of the drumhead as exampled by the fine varieties raised in this country. The securing of sorts reliable for heading being with them a matter of secondary consideration, seed is raised from stumps or any refuse heads that may be standing when spring comes round. For this reason English drumhead cabbage seed is better suited to raise a mass of leaves than heads, and always disappoints our American farmers who buy it because it is cheap with the expectation of raising cabbage for market. English-grown drumhead cabbage seed is utterly worthless for use in this country except to raise greens or collards.
The following are foreign varieties that are accepted in this country as standards, and for years have been more or less extensively cultivated: Early York, Early Oxheart, Early Winnigstadt, Red Dutch, Red Drumhead. In my experience as a seed dealer, the Sugar Loaf and Oxheart are losing ground in the farming community, the Early Jersey Wakefield having, to a large extent, replaced them.
Early York. Heads nearly ovoid, rather soft, with few waste leaves surrounding them, which are of a bright green color. Reliable for heading. Stump rather short. Plant two feet by eighteen inches. This cabbage has been cultivated in England over a hundred years. Little Pixie with me is earlier than Early York, as reliable for heading, heads much harder, and is of better flavor; the heads do not grow quite as large.
Early Oxheart. Heads nearly egg-shaped, small, hard, few waste leaves, stumps short. A little later than Early York. Have the rows two feet apart, and the plants eighteen inches apart in the row.
Early Winnigstadt. (A German cabbage.) Heads nearly conical in shape, having usually a twist of leaf at the top; larger than Oxheart, are harder than any of the early oblong heading cabbages; stumps middling short. Matures about ten days later than Early York. The Winnigstadt is remarkably reliable for heading, being not excelled in this respect when the seed has been raised with care, by any cabbage grown. It is a capital sort for early market outside our large cities, where the very early kinds are not so eagerly craved. It is so reliable for heading, that it will often make fine heads where other sorts fail; and I would advise all who have not succeeded in their efforts to grow cabbage, to try this before giving up their attempts. It is raised by some for winter use, and where the drumheads are not so successfully raised, I would advise my farmer friends to try the Winnigstadt, as the heads are so hard that they keep without much waste. Have rows two feet apart, and plant twenty inches to two feet apart in the rows.
Red Dutch. Heads nearly conical, medium sized, hard, of a very deep red; outer leaves numerous, and not so red as the head, being somewhat mixed with green; stump rather long. This cabbage is usually planted too late; it requires nearly the whole season to mature. It is used for pickling, or cut up fine as a salad, served with vinegar and pepper. This is a very tender cabbage, and, were it not for its color, would be an excellent sort to boil; to those who have a mind to eat it with their eyes shut, this objection will not apply.
Red Drumhead. Like the preceding, with the exception that the heads grow round, or nearly so, are harder, and of double the size. It is very difficult to raise seed from this cabbage in this country. I am acquainted with five trials, made in as many different years, two of which I made myself, and all were nearly utter failures, the yield, when the hardest heads were selected, being at about the rate of two great spoonfuls of seed from every twenty cabbages. French seed-growers are more successful, otherwise this seed would have to sell at a far higher figure in the market than any other sort.
The Little Pixie has much to recommend it, in earliness, quality, reliability for heading, and hardness of the head; earlier than Early York, though somewhat smaller.
Among those that deserve to be heartily welcomed and grow in favor, are the Early Ulm Savoy (for engraving and description of which see under head of Savoy), and the St. Dennis Drumhead, a late, short-stumped sort, setting a large, round, very solid head, as large, but harder, than Premium Flat Dutch. The leaves are of a bluish-green, and thicker than those of most varieties of drumhead. Our brethren in Canada think highly of this cabbage, and if we want to try a new drumhead, I will speak a good word for this one.
Early Schweinfurt, or Schweinfurt Quintal, is an excellent early drumhead for family use; the heads range in size from ten to eighteen inches in diameter, varying with the conditions of cultivation more than any other cabbage I am acquainted with. They are flattish round, weigh from three to nine pounds when well grown, are very symmetrical in shape, standing apart from the surrounding leaves. They are not solid, though they have the finished appearance that solidity gives; they are remarkably tender, as though blanched, and of very fine flavor. It is among the earliest of drumheads, maturing at about the same time as the Early Winnigstadt. As an early drumhead for the family garden, it has no superior; and where the market is near, and does not insist that a cabbage head must be hard to be good, it has proved a very profitable market sort.
The following are either already standard American varieties of cabbage, or such as are likely soon to become so; very possibly there are two or three other varieties or strains that deserve to be included in the list. I give all that have proved to be first class in my locality: Early Wakefield, Early Wyman, Early Summer, All Seasons, Hard Heading, Succession, Warren, Vandergaw, Peerless, Newark, Flat Dutch, Premium Flat Dutch, Stone Mason, Large Late Drumhead, Marblehead Mammoth Drumhead, American Green Glazed, Fottler's Drumhead, Bergen Drumhead, Drumhead Savoy, and American Green Globe Savoy. All of these varieties, as I have previously stated, are but improvements of foreign kinds; but they are so far improved through years of careful selection and cultivation, that, as a rule, they appear quite distinct from the originals when grown side by side with them, and this distinction is more or less recognized, in both English and American catalogues, by the adjective "American" or "English" being added after varieties bearing the same name.
Early Wakefield, sometimes called Early Jersey Wakefield. Heads mostly nearly conical in shape but sometimes nearly round, of good size for early, very reliable for heading; stumps short. A very popular early cabbage in the markets of Boston and New York. Plant two and a half feet by two feet. There are two strains of this cabbage, one a little later and larger than the other.
Early Wyman. This cabbage is named after Capt. Wyman, of Cambridge, the originator. Like Early Wakefield the heads are usually somewhat conical, but sometimes nearly round; in structure they are compact. In earliness it ranks about with the Early Wakefield, and making heads of double the size, it has a high value as an early cabbage. Capt. Wyman had entire control of this cabbage until within the past few years, and, consequently, has held Boston Market in his own hands, to the chagrin of his fellow market gardeners, raising some seasons as many as thirty thousand heads. Have the rows from two to two and a half feet apart, and the plants from twenty to twenty-four inches apart in the row. Crane's Early is a cross between the Wyman and Wakefield, intermediate in size and earliness.
Premium Flat Dutch. Large, late variety; heads either round or flat, on the top (varying with different strains); rather hard; color bluish green; leaves around heads rather numerous; towards the close of the season, the edge of some of the exterior leaves and the top of the heads assume a purple cast. The edges of the exterior leaves, and of the two or three that make the outside of the head, are quite ruffled, so that when grown side by side with Stone Mason, this distinction between the habit of growth of the two varieties is noticeable at quite a distance. Stumps short; reliable for heading. Have the rows three feet apart, and the plants from two and a half to three feet apart in the rows. This cabbage is very widely cultivated, and, in many respects, is an excellent sort to raise for late marketing. There are several strains of it catalogued by different seedsmen under various names, such as Sure Head, &c.
Stone Mason. An improvement on the Mason, which cabbage was selected by Mr. John Mason of Marblehead, from a number of varieties of cabbage that came from a lot of seed purchased and planted as Savoys. Mr. John Stone afterwards improved upon the Mason cabbage, by increasing the size of the heads. Different growers differ in their standard of a Stone Mason cabbage, in earliness and lateness, and in the size, form, and hardness of the head. But all these varieties agree in the characteristics of being very reliable for heading, in having heads which are large, very hard, very tender, rich and sweet; short stumps, and few waste leaves. The color of the leaves varies from a bluish green to a pea-green, and the structure from nearly smooth to much blistered. In their color and blistering some specimens have almost a Savoy cast. The heads of the best varieties of Stone Mason range in weight from six to twenty-five pounds, the difference turning mostly on soil, manure, and cultivation.
The Stone Mason is an earlier cabbage than Premium Flat Dutch, has fewer waste leaves, and side by side, under high cultivation, grows to an equal or larger size, while it makes heads that are decidedly harder and sweeter. These cabbages are equally reliable for heading. I am inclined to the opinion that under poor cultivation the Premium Flat Dutch will do somewhat better than the Stone Mason.
Until the introduction of Fottler's Drumhead it was the standard drumhead cabbage in the markets of Boston and other large cities of the North. Have the rows three feet apart, and the plants from two to three feet apart in the row.
Large Late Drumhead. Heads large, round, sometimes flattened at the top, close and firm; loose leaves numerous; stems short; reliable for heading, hardy, and a good keeper. The name "Large Late Drumhead" includes varieties raised by several seedsmen in this country, all of which resemble each other in the above characteristics, and differ in but minor points. Have rows three feet apart, and plants from two and a half to three feet apart in the row.
Marblehead Mammoth Drumhead. This is the largest of the cabbage family, having sometimes been grown to weigh over ninety pounds to the plant. It originated in Marblehead, Mass., being produced by Mr. Alley, probably from the Mason, by years of high cultivation and careful selection of seed stock. I introduced this cabbage and the Stone Mason to the general public many years ago, and it has been pretty thoroughly disseminated throughout the United States. Heads varying in shape between hemispherical and spherical, with but few waste leaves surrounding them; size very large, varying from fifteen to twenty inches in diameter, and, in some specimens, they have grown to the extraordinary dimensions of twenty-four inches. In good soil, and with the highest culture, this variety has attained an average weight of thirty pounds by the acre. Quality, when well grown, remarkably sweet and tender, as would be inferred from the rapidity of its growth. Cultivate in rows four feet apart, and allow four feet between the plants in the rows. Sixty tons of this variety have been raised from a single acre.
American Green Glazed. Heads loose, though rather large, with a great body of waste leaves surrounding them; quality poor; late; stump long. This cabbage was readily distinguished among all the varieties in my experimental plot by the deep, rich green of the leaves, with their bright lustre as though varnished. It is grown somewhat extensively in the South, as it is believed not to be so liable to injury from insects as other varieties. Plant two and a half feet apart each way. I would advise my Southern friends to try the merits of other kinds before adopting this poor affair. I know, through my correspondence, that the Mammoth has done well as far South as Louisiana and Cuba, and the Fottler, in many sections of the South, has given great satisfaction.
Fottler's Early Drumhead. Several years ago a Boston seedsman imported a lot of cabbage seed from Europe, under the name of Early Brunswick Short Stemmed. It proved to be a large heading and very early Drumhead. The heads were from eight to eighteen inches in diameter nearly flat, hard, sweet, and tender in quality; few waste leaves; stump short. In earliness it was about a fortnight ahead of the Stone Mason. It was so much liked by the market gardeners that the next season he ordered a larger quantity; but the second importation, though ordered and sent under the same name, proved to be a different and inferior kind, and the same result followed one or two other importations. The two gardeners who received seed of the first importation brought to market a fine, large Drumhead, ten days or a fortnight ahead of their fellows. The seed of the true stock was eagerly bought up by the Boston market gardeners, most of it at five dollars an ounce. After an extensive trial on a large scale by the market farmers around Boston, and by farmers in various parts of the United States, Fottler's Cabbage has given great satisfaction, and become a universal favorite, and when once known it, and especially the improved strain of it, known as Deep Head, is fast replacing some of the old varieties of Drumhead. Very reliable for heading.
Vandergaw Cabbage. This new Long Island Cabbage must be classed as A No. 1 for the midsummer and late market. It is as sure to head as the Succession, and has some excellent characteristics in common.
It makes large, green heads, hard, tender, and crisp. This is an acquisition.
The Warren Cabbage. This first-class cabbage is closely allied to, but an improvement on, the old Mason Cabbage of twenty-five years ago. It makes a head deep, round, and very hard, the outer leaves wrapping it over very handsomely. In reliability for heading no cabbage surpasses it; a field of them when in their prime is as pretty a sight as a cabbage man would wish to see. It comes in as early as some strains of Fottler, and a little earlier than others. A capital sort to succeed the Early Summer. The heads being very thick through, and nearly round, make it an excellent sort to carry through the winter, as it "peels" well, as cabbage-growers say. Ten inches in diameter, in size it is just about right for profitable marketing. A capital sort, exceedingly popular among market-man in this vicinity.
Early Bleichfeld Cabbage. I find the Bleichfeld to be among the earliest of the large, hard-heading Drumheads, maturing earlier than the Fottler's Brunswick. The heads are large, very solid, tender when cooked, and of excellent flavor. The color is a lighter green than most varieties and it is as reliable for heading as any cabbage I have ever grown. The above engraving I have had made from a photograph of a specimen grown on my grounds.
Danish Drumhead Cabbage. In 1879, Mr. Edward Abelgoord wrote me from Canada, that he raised a large Drumhead Cabbage, the seed of which was brought from Denmark, which was the best kind of cabbage that he had seen in that latitude (46°), being very valuable for the extreme North. It was earlier than Fottler's Drumhead, and made large, flat heads, of excellent flavor, and was so reliable for heading. I raised a field of this new cabbage, and it proved a large, flat, early Drumhead, very reliable for heading.
The Reynolds Early Cabbage. In the year 1875, Mr. Franklin Reynolds, of this town, crossed the Cannon-Ball Cabbage on the Schweinfurt Quintal, by carefully transferring the pollen of the former on the latter, the stamens having first been removed, and immediately tying muslin around the impregnated blossoms to keep away all insects. The results were a few ripe seeds. These were carefully saved and planted the next season, when the product showed the characteristics of the two parents. The best heads were selected from the lot, and, from these, seeds were raised. Several selections were made of the choicest heads from year to year; and I now have the pleasure of introducing the results, a new cabbage which combines the good qualities of both its parents.
The flavor of this new cabbage is rich, tender, and sweet, being superior to the general Drumhead class, making it a very superior variety for family use, and also for marketing when there is not a long transportation. None of the scores of varieties I have ever grown has a shorter stump than this; the heads appear to rest directly on the ground, and no one is surer to head.
All-Seasons Cabbage. This new cabbage is the result of a cross made by a Long Island gardener between the Flat Dutch and a variety of Drumhead. The result is a remarkably large, early Drumhead, that matures close in time with the Early Summer, while it is from one third to one half larger. It is an excellent variety either as an early or late sort; the roundness of the head, leaving a thick, solid cabbage, should it become necessary, as is often the case with those marketed in the spring, to peel off the outer layer of leaves. Heads large in size, solid and tender, and rich flavored when cooked. It has already, in three years, verified the prophecy I made when sending it out, and become a standard variety in some localities.
Gregory's Hard-Heading Cabbage. I am not acquainted with any variety of cabbage (I believe I have raised about all the native and foreign varieties that have been catalogued) that makes so hard a head as does the "Hard-heading" when fully matured. Neither am I acquainted with any variety that is so late a keeper as is this; the German gardener, from whom I obtained it, said that it gave him, and his friends who had it, complete control of the Chicago market for about a fortnight after all other varieties had "played out." My own experience with it tends to confirm this statement, for under the same conditions it kept decidedly later than all my other varieties, was greener in color, and when planted out they were so late to push seed-shoots that I almost despaired of getting a crop of seed. I find, also, that they are much less inclined to burst than any of the hard-heading varieties. Heads grow to a good market size, are more globular than Flat Dutch; and, as might be presumed, of great weight in proportion to their size. The color is a peculiar green, rather more of an olive than most kinds of cabbage. About a fortnight later than Flat Dutch. For late fall, winter, and spring sales plant 3 by 3 the first of June.
Early Deep-Head Cabbage. This is a valuable improvement on the Fottler made by years of careful selection and high cultivation by Mr. Alley of Marblehead, a famous cabbage grower, who, as the name indicates, has produced a deeper, rounder heading variety than the original Fottler, thus making what that was not, an excellent sort for winter and spring marketing. It has all the excellent traits of its parent in reliability for making large, handsome heads.
Bergen Drumhead. Heads round, rather flat on the top, solid; leaves stout, thick, and rather numerous; stump short. With me, under same cultivation, it is later than Stone Mason. It is tender and of good flavor. A popular sort in many sections, particularly in the markets of New York City. Have the plants three feet apart each way.
SAVOY CABBAGES.
The Savoys are the tenderest and richest-flavored of cabbages, though not always as sweet as a well-grown Stone Mason; nor is a Savoy grown on poor soil, or one that has been pinched by drouth, as tender as a Stone Mason that has been grown under favoring circumstances; yet it remains, as a rule, that the Savoy surpasses all other cabbages in tenderness, and in a rich, marrow-like flavor. The Savoys are also the hardiest of the cabbage tribe, enduring in the open field a temperature within sixteen degrees of zero without serious injury; and if the heads are not very hard they will continue to withstand repeated changes from freezing to thawing for a couple of months, as far north as the latitude of Boston. A degree of freezing improves them, and it is common in that latitude to let such as are intended for early winter use, in the family, remain standing in the open ground where they grew, cutting the heads as they are wanted.
As a rule Savoys neither head as readily (the "Improved American Savoy" being an exception) nor do the heads grow as large as the Drumhead varieties; indeed, most of the kinds in cultivation are so unreliable in these respects as to be utterly worthless for market purposes, and nearly so for the kitchen garden.
The Drumhead Savoy. This, as the name implies, is the result of a cross between a Savoy and a Drumhead cabbage, partaking of the characteristics of each. Many of the cabbages sold in the market as Savoy are really this variety. One variety in my experimental garden, which I received as Tour's Savoy (evidently a Drumhead variety of the Savoy), proved to be much like Early Schweinfurt in earliness and style of heading; the heads were very large, but quite loose in structure; I should think it would prove valuable for family use.
It is a fact that does not appear to be generally known that we have among the Savoys some remarkably early sorts which rank with the earliest varieties of cabbage grown. Pancalier and Early Ulm Savoy are earlier than that old standard of earliness, Early York; Pancalier being somewhat earlier than Ulm.
Pancalier. is characterized by very coarsely blistered leaves of the darkest-green color; the heads usually gather together, being the only exception I know of to the rule that cabbage heads are made up of overlapping leaves, wrapped closely together. It has a short stump, and with high cultivation is reliable for heading. The leaves nearest the head, though not forming a part of it, are quite tender, and may be cooked with the head. Plant fifteen by thirty inches.
Early Ulm Savoy. is a few days later than Pancalier, and makes a larger head; the leaves are of a lighter green and not so coarsely blistered; stump short; head round; very reliable for heading. It has a capital characteristic in not being so liable as most varieties to burst the head and push the seed shoot immediately after the head is matured. For first early, I know no cabbages so desirable as these for the kitchen garden.
The Early Dwarf Savoy. is a desirable variety of second early. The heads are rather flat in shape, and grow to a fair size. Stumps short; reliable for heading.
Improved American Savoy. Everything considered, this is the Savoy, "par excellence," for the market garden. It is a true Savoy, the heads grow to a large size, from six to ten inches in diameter, varying, of course, with soil, manure, and cultivation. In shape the heads are mostly globular, occasionally oblong, having but few waste leaves, and grow very solid. Stump short. In reliability for heading it is unsurpassed by any other cabbage.
Golden Savoy differs from other varieties in the color of the head, which rises from the body of light green leaves, of a singular pale yellow color, as though blanched. The stumps are long, and the head rather small, a portion of these growing pointed. It is very late, not worth cultivating, except as a curiosity.
Norwegian Savoy. This is a singular half cabbage, half kale—at least, so it has proved under my cultivation. The leaves are long, narrow, tasselated, and somewhat blistered. The whole appearance is very singular and rather ornamental. I have tried this cabbage twice, but have never got beyond the possible promise of a head.
Victoria Savoy, Russian Savoy, and Cape Savoy, tested in my experimental garden, did not prove desirable either for family use or for market purposes.
Feather Stemmed Savoy. This is a cross between the Savoy and Brussels sprouts, having the habit of growth of Brussels sprouts.
OTHER VARIETIES OF CABBAGE.
I will add notes on some other varieties which have been tested, from year to year, in my experimental plot. The results from tests of different strains of standard sorts, I have not thought it worth the while to record.
Cannon Ball. The heads are usually spherical, attaining to a diameter of from five to nine inches, with the surrounding leaves gathered rather closely around them; in hardness and relative weight it is excelled by but few varieties. Stump short. It delights in the highest cultivation possible. It is about a week later than Early York. In those markets where cabbages are sold by weight, it will pay to grow for market; it is a good cabbage for the family garden.
Early Cone, of the Wakefield class, but with me not as early.
Garfield Pickling, of late variety, of the conical class.
Cardinal Red. A large, late variety of red; but on my grounds, it is not equal to Red Drumhead.
Vilmorin's Early Flat Dutch. Not quite as large as Early Summer, though about as early and resembles it in shape of head.
Royal German Drumhead. Reliable for heading.
Large White Solid Magdeburg. A late Drumhead; short stumped; reliable for heading. Medium late.
Pak Choi. Evidently of the Kale class; no heads.
Chou de Burghlez and Chou de Milan. These are coarse, loose, small heading varieties, allied to Kale. The latter is of the Savoy class.
Earliest Erfurt Blood-Red. Decidedly the earliest of the red cabbages. Very reliable for heading. A Drumhead; smaller than Red Drumhead. Very dark red.
Empress. Resembles Wyman in size and shape; but the heads are more pointed, and it makes head earlier. Heads well.
Schlitzer. This makes heads mostly shaped like the Winnigstadt, but a third larger. Its mottling of green and purple gives it a striking appearance. Early and very reliable for heading. Heads are not very hard; but, when cooked, are just about as tender and rich-flavored as the Savoy. Promises to be an excellent sort for family use.
Rothelburg. An early sure heading variety of the Drumhead class. Heads of medium size; resembling in shape Deep Head.
Sure Head. A strain of Flat Dutch. A late variety; heads deeper than Fottler, but with me not so reliable.
Dark Red Pointed. Resembles Winnigstadt in shape. About as late as Red Dutch, and not as desirable.
Bacalan Late. In shape resembles Winnigstadt. Grow a little wild.
Amack. A late variety. Heads generally nearly globular and quite hard. Very reliable for heading.
Bangholm. First of all. As early as the earliest, but very small,—not as large as Little Pixie.
Early Enfield Market.
Tourleville. Heads resemble Wakefield in form; but, with me, are neither so large nor so large, and are more inclined to burst.
Danish Round Winter. A late variety; bearing deep, hard heads on long stumps.
Dwarf Danish. Late. Reliable to head; uneven in time of heading. Worth planting for market.
Danish Ball Drumhead. Heads not characterized by globular shape, but rather flattish. Irregular in length of stump.
Early Paris. Closely resembles Wakefield.
Very Early Etampes. Earlier than Wakefield. Shape partakes of both Oxheart and Wakefield.
Early Mohawk. Light green in color; a good header, but not so hard heading as Fottler. Appears to have a little of the Savoy cross in it.
Sure Head. A late variety of the Dutch class; reliable for heading; stump rather long.
Excelsior. A variety which is of the Fottler class, but makes smaller sized heads.
Louisville Drumhead. Of the flat Dutch type; nearly as early as Early Summer.
Early Advance. Of the Wakefield type. With me it is full as early as Wakefield, and considerably larger. Rather coarser in structure.
Market Garden. Of the Fottler class; very reliable for heading. Heads of good size, but rather coarser than the Deep Head.
Chase's Excelsior. A second early; much like Fottler; heads finely.
Bloomsdale Early Market. With me this is not as good a variety as Wakefield.
Berkshire Beauty. There appear to be fine possibilities in this cabbage, which have not yet been developed into uniformity.
Landredth's Extra Early. With me it does not prove as early as Wakefield, and does not head as well.
Bridgeport Late Drumhead. A large Drumhead; in size, between Stone Mason and Marblehead Mammoth. Reliable for heading, but does not head as hard as either of these varieties. Not inclined to burst.
Large French Oxheart closely resembles Early Oxheart, but grows to double the size, and is about ten days later; quality usually good.
Early Sugar Loaf. Heads shaped much like a loaf of sugar standing on its smaller end, resembling, as Burr well says, a head of Cos lettuce in its shape, and in the peculiar clasping of the leaves about the head. Heads rather hard, medium size; early, and tender. It is said not to stand the heat as well as most sorts.
Large Brunswick Short-Stemmed. (English seed.) Late, long-stumped, wild, plenty of leaves, almost no head; bears but a slight resemblance to Fottler's Drumhead.
Early Empress. Cabbages well; heads conical; early.
Robinson's Champion Ox Drumhead. Stump long; heads soft and not very large; wild.
English Winnigstadt. Long-stumped; irregular; not to be compared with French stock.
Blenheim. Early; heads mostly conical; of good size.
Shillings Queen. Early; heads conical; stumps long.
Carter's Superfine Early Dwarf. Surpasses in earliness and hardness of head. Closely allied to Little Pixie.
Enfield Market Improved. Most of the heads were flat; rather wild; not to be compared with Fottler.
Kemp's Incomparable. Long-headed; heads, when mature, do not appear to burst as readily as with most of the conical class.
Fielderkraut. Closely resembles Winnigstadt, with larger and longer heads and stump; requires more room than Winnigstadt.
Ramsay's Winter Drumhead. Closely resembles St. Dennis. I think it is the same.
Pomeranian Cabbage. Heads very long; quite large for a conical heading sort; very symmetrical and hard; color, yellowish-green. It handles well, and I should think would prove a good keeper. Medium early.
Alsacian Drumhead. Stump long; late; wild.
Marbled Bourgogne. Stumps long; heads small and hard; color, a mixture of green and red.
CABBAGE GREENS.
In the vicinity of our large cities, the market gardeners sow large areas very thickly with cabbage seed, early in the spring, to raise young plants to be sold as greens. The seed is sown broadcast at the rate of ten pounds and upwards to the acre. Seed of the Savoy cabbage is usually sown for this purpose, which may be sometimes purchased at a discount, owing to some defect in quality or purity, that would render it worthless for planting for a crop of heading cabbage.
The young plants are cut off about even with the ground, when four or five inches high, washed, and carried to market in barrels or bushel boxes. The price varies with the state of the market, from 12 cents to $3 a barrel, the average price in Boston market being about a dollar. With the return of spring most families have some cabbage stumps remaining in the cellar; these can be planted about a foot apart in some handy spot along the edge of the garden, where they will not interfere with the general crop, setting them under ground from a quarter to a half their length, depending on the length of the stumps. They will soon be covered with green shoots, which should be used as greens before the blossom buds show themselves, as they then become too strong to be agreeable. If the spot is rich and has been well dug, the rapidity of growth is surprising; and if the shoots are frequently gathered, many nice messes of greens can be grown from a few stumps. Farmers in Northern Vermont tell me, that if they break off each seed shoot as soon as it shows itself, close home to the stump, nice little heads will push out on almost every stump. In England, where the winter climate is much milder than that of New England, it is the practice to raise a second crop of heads in this way. In my own neighborhood I have seen an acre from which a crop of drumhead cabbage had been cut off early in the season, every stump on which had from three to six hard heads, varying from the size of a hen's egg to that of a goose egg; but to get this second growth of heads, as much of the stump and leaves should be left as possible, when cutting out the original head. As in the cabbage districts of the North little or no use is made of this prolific after growth, it is worse than useless to suffer the ground to be exhausted by it; the stump should be pulled by the potato hoe as soon as the heads are marketed. When cabbages are planted out for seed, if, for any reason, the seed shoot fails to push out, and at times when it does push out, fine sprouts for greens will start below the head; when the stock of these sprouts becomes too tough for use, the large leaves may be stripped from them and cooked. I usually break off the tender tops of large sprouts, and then strip off the tenderest of the large leaves below.
CABBAGE FOR STOCK.
No vegetable raised in the temperate zone, Mangold Wurtzel alone excepted, will produce as much food to the acre, both for man and beast, as the cabbage. I have seen acres of the Marblehead Mammoth drumhead which would average thirty pounds to each cabbage, some specimens weighing over sixty pounds. The plants were four feet apart each way which would give a product of over forty tons to the acre; and I have tested a crop of Fottler's that yielded thirty tons of green food to the half acre. Other vegetables are at times raised for cattle feed, such as potatoes, carrots, ruta bagas, mangold wurtzels; a crop of potatoes yielding four hundred bushels to the acre at sixty pounds the bushel would weigh twelve tons; a crop of carrot yielding twelve hundred bushels to the acre would weigh thirty tons; ruta bagas sometimes yield thirty tons; and mangolds as high as seventy tons to the acre. I have set all these crops at a high capacity for fodder purposes; the same favoring conditions of soil, manure, and cultivation that would produce four hundred bushels of potatoes, twelve hundred bushels of carrots, and thirty-five tons of ruta baga turnips, would give a crop of forty tons of the largest variety of drumhead cabbage. If we now consider the comparative merits of these crops for nutriment, we find that the cabbage excels them all in this department also. The potatoes abound in starch, the mangold and carrot are largely composed of water, while the cabbage abounds in rich, nitrogeneous food.
Prof. Stewart states that cabbage for milch cows has about the same feeding value as sweet corn ensilage, and makes the value not over $3.40 per ton. Now it is admitted by general current that the value of common ensilage, which is inferior to that made from sweet corn, is, when compared with good English hay, as 3 to 1. This would make cabbages for milch cows worth not far from $7.00 per ton.
When cabbage is kept for stock feed later than the first severe frost, if the quantity is large there is considerable waste even with the best of care. The loose leaves should be fed first, and the heads kept in a cool place, not more than two or three deep, at as near the freezing point as possible. If it has been necessary to cut the heads from the stumps, they may be piled, after the weather has set in decidedly cold, conveniently near the barn, and kept covered with a foot of straw or old litter. As long as a cabbage is kept frozen there is no waste to it; but if it be allowed to freeze and thaw two or three times, it will soon rot with an awful stench. I suspect that it is this rotten portion of the cabbage that often gives the bad flavor to milk. On the other hand, if it is kept in too warm and dry a place, the outer leaves will dry, turning yellow, and the whole head lose in weight,—if it be not very hard, shrivelling, and, if hard, shrinking. If they are kept in too warm and wet a place, the heads will decay fast, in a black, soft rot. The best way to preserve cabbages for stock into the winter, is to place them in trenches a few inches below the surface, and there cover with from a foot to two feet of coarse hay or straw, the depth depending on the coldness of the locality. When the ground has been frozen too hard to open with a plough or spade, I have kept them until spring by piling them loosely, hay-stack shape, about four feet high, letting the frost strike through them, and afterwards covering with a couple of feet of eel-grass; straw or coarse hay would doubtless do as well.
I have treated of cabbage thus far when grown specially for stock; in every piece of cabbage handled for market purposes, there is a large proportion of waste suitable for stock feed, which includes the outside leaves and such heads as have not hardened up sufficiently for market. On walking over a piece just after my cabbages for seed stock have been taken off, I note that the refuse leaves that were stripped from the heads before pulling are so abundant they nearly cover the ground. If leaves so stripped remain exposed to frost, they soon spoil; or, if earlier in the season they are exposed to the sun, they soon become yellow, dry, and of but little value. They can be rapidly collected with a hay fork and carted, if there be but a few, into the barn; should there be a large quantity, dump them within a convenient distance of the barn or feeding ground, but not where the cattle can trample them, and spread them so that they will be but a few inches in depth. If piled in heaps they will quickly heat; but even then, if not too much decayed, cattle will eat them with avidity. Cabbages are hardy plants, and loose heads will stand a good deal of freezing and thawing without serious injury. They are not generally injured with the thermometer 16° below freezing. The waste, after the seed and all market cabbage are removed, brings me about $10 per acre on the ground, for cow feed.
If cabbage is fed to cows in milk without some care, it will be apt to give the milk a strong cabbage flavor; all the feed for the day should be given early in the morning. Beginning with a small quantity, and gradually increasing it, the dairy man will soon learn his limits. The effect of a liberal feed to milk stock is to largely increase the flow of milk. Avoid feeding to any extent while the leaves are frozen.
An English writer says: "The cabbage comes into use when other things begin to fail, and it is by far the best succulent vegetable for milking cows,—keeping up the yield of milk, and preserving, better than any other food, some portion of the quality which cheese loses when the cows quit their natural pasturage. Cows fed on cabbages are always quiet and satisfied, while on turnips they often scour and are restless. When frosted, they are liable to produce hoven, unless kept in a warm shed to thaw before being used; fifty-six pounds given, at two meals, are as much as a large cow should have in a day. Frequent cases of abortion are caused by an over-supply of green food. Cabbages are excellent for young animals, keeping them in health, and preventing 'black leg.' A calf of seven months may have twenty pounds a day."
RAISING CABBAGE SEED.
Cabbage seed in England, particularly of the drumhead sorts, is mostly raised from stumps, or from the refuse that remains after all that is salable has been disposed of. The agent of one of the largest English seed houses, a few years since, laughed at my "wastefulness," as he termed it, in raising seed from solid heads. In our country, cabbage seed is mostly raised from soft, half-formed heads, which are grown as a late crop, few, if any of them, being hard enough to be of any value in the market. Seedsmen practise selecting a few fine, hard heads, from which to raise their seed stock. It has been my practice to grow seed from none but extra fine heads, better than the average of those carried to market. I do this on the theory that no cabbage can be too good for a seedhead, if the design is to keep the stock first-class. Perhaps such strictness may not be necessary; but I had rather err in setting out too good heads than too poor ones; besides, the great hardness obtained by the heads of the Stone Mason, makes it possible, at least, that I am right. Cabbage raised from seed grown from stumps are apt to be unreliable for heading, and to grow long-stumped, though under unfavorable conditions, long-stumped and poor-headed cabbage may grow from the best of seed. To have the best of seed, all shoots that start below the head should be broken off. To prevent the plants falling over after the seed-stalks are grown, dig deep holes, and plant the entire stump in the ground. Scarecrows should be set up, or some like precaution be taken, to keep away the little seed-birds, that begin to crack the pods as soon as they commence to ripen. A plaster cat is a very good scarecrow to frighten away birds from seed and small fruits, if its location is changed every few days.
I find that the pods of cabbage seed grown South are tough, and not brittle, like those grown North, and hence that they are injured but little, if any, by seed birds. When the seed-pods have passed what seedsmen call their "red" stage, they begin to harden; as soon as a third of them are brown, the entire stalk may be cut and hung up in a dry, airy place, for a few days, when the seed will be ready for rubbing or threshing out. Different varieties should be raised far apart to insure purity; and cabbage seed had better not be raised in the vicinity of turnip seed. There is some difference of opinion as to the effect of growing these near each other; where the two vegetables blossom at the same time, I should fear an admixture. When the care requisite to select good seed stock, and the trouble, and, often, great loss, in keeping it over winter, planting it in isolated locations, protecting it from wind and weather, guarding it from injury from birds and other enemies, gathering it, cleaning it, are all considered, few men will find that they can afford to raise their own seed, provided they can buy it from reliable seedsmen.
COOKING CABBAGE, SOUR-KROUT, ETC.
Cabbage when boiled with salt pork, as it is mostly used, is the food for strong and healthy digestive powers; but when eaten in its raw state, served with vinegar and pepper, it is considered one of the most easily digested articles of diet. In the process of cooking, even with the greatest care, a large portion of the sweetness is lost. The length of time required to cook cabbage by boiling varies with the quality, those of the best quality requiring about twenty minutes, while others require an hour. In cooking put it into boiling water in which a little salt and soda has been sprinkled, which will tend to preserve the natural green color. It will be well to change the water once. The peculiar aroma given out by cabbage when cooking is thought to depend somewhat on the manner in which it is grown; those having been raised with the least rank manure having the least. I think this is one of the whims of the community. By using some varieties of boilers all steam is carried into the fire, and there is no smell in the house.
To Pickle, select hard heads, quarter them, soak in salt and water four or five days, then drain and treat as for other pickles, with vinegar spiced to suit.
For Cold Slaw, select hard heads, halve and then slice up these halves exceedingly fine. Lay these in a deep dish, and pour over vinegar that has been raised to the boiling point in which has been mixed a little pepper and salt.
Sour-Krout. Take large, hard-headed drumheads, halve, and cut very fine; then pack in a clean, tight barrel, beginning with a sprinkling of salt, and following with a layer of cabbage, and thus alternating until the barrel is filled. Now compact the mass as much as possible by pounding, after which put on a well-fitting cover resting on the cabbage, and lay heavy weights or a stone on this. When fermented it is ready for use. To prepare for the table fry in butter or fat.
The outer green leaves of cabbages are sometimes used to line a brass or copper kettle in which pickles are made in the belief that the vinegar extracts the coloring substance (chlorophyl) in the leaves, and the cucumbers absorbing this acquire a rich green color. Be not deceived by this transparent cheat, O simple housewife! the coloring matter comes almost wholly from the copper or brass behind those leaves; and, instead of an innocent vegetable pigment, your green cucumbers are dyed with the poisonous carbonate of copper.
CABBAGES UNDER GLASS.
The very early cabbages usually bringing high prices, the enterprising market gardener either winters the young plants under glass or starts them there, planting the seed under its protecting shelter long before the cold of winter is passed. When the design is to winter over fall grown plants, the seed are planted in the open ground about the middle of September, and at about the last of October they are ready to go into the cold frames, as such are called that depend wholly on the sun for heat. Select those having short stumps and transplant into the frames, about an inch and a half by two inches apart, setting them deep in the soil up to the lower leaves, shading them with a straw mat, or the like, for a few days, after which let them remain without any glass over them until the frost is severe enough to begin to freeze the ground, then place over the sashes; but bear in mind that the object is not to promote growth, but, as nearly as possible, to keep them in a dormant state, to keep them so cold that they will not grow, and just sufficiently protected to prevent injury from freezing. With this object in view the sashes must be raised whenever the temperature is above freezing, and this process will so harden the plants that they will receive no serious injury though the ground under the sash should freeze two inches deep; cabbage plants will stand a temperature of fifteen to twenty degrees below the freezing point. A covering of snow on the sash will do no harm, if it does not last longer than a week or ten days, in which case it must be removed. There is some danger to be feared from ground mice, who, when everything else is locked up by the frost, will instinctively take to the sash, and there cause much destruction among the plants unless these are occasionally examined. When March opens remove the sash when the temperature will allow, replacing it when the weather is unseasonably cold, particularly at night. The plants may be brought still farther forward by transferring them from the hot-bed when two or three inches high to cold frames, having first somewhat hardened them. When so transferred plant them about an inch apart, and shield from the sun for two or three days. After this they may be treated as in cold frames. The transfer tends to keep them stocky, increases the fibrous roots and makes the plants hardier. As the month advances it may be left entirely off, and about the first of April the plants may be set out in the open field, pressing fine earth firmly around the roots.
When cabbages are raised in hot-beds the seed, in the latitude of Boston, should be planted on the first of March; in that of New York, about a fortnight earlier. When two or three inches high, which will be in three or four weeks, they should be thinned to about four or less to an inch in the row. They should now be well hardened by partly drawing off the sashes in the warm part of the day, and covering at night; as the season advances remove the sashes entirely by day, covering only at night. By about the middle of April the plants will be ready for the open ground.
When raised in cold frames in the spring, the seed should be planted about the first of April, mats being used to retain by night the solar heat accumulated during the day. As the season advances the same process of hardening will be necessary as with those raised in hot-beds.
COLD FRAME AND HOT-BED.
To carry on hot-beds on a large scale successfully is almost an art in itself, and for fuller details I will refer my readers to works on gardening. Early plants, in a small way, may be raised in flower pots or boxes in a warm kitchen window. It is best, if practicable, to have but one plant in each pot, that they may grow short and stocky. If the seed are not planted earlier than April, for out-of-door cultivation, a cold frame will answer.
For a cold frame select the locality in the fall, choosing a warm location on a southern slope, protected by a fence or building on the north and north-west. Set posts in the ground, nail two boards to these parallel to each other, one about a foot in height, and the other towards the south about four inches narrower; this will give the sashes resting on them the right slope to shed the rain and receive as much heat as possible from the sun. Have these boards at a distance apart equal to the length of the sash, which may be any common window sash for a small bed, while three and a half feet is the length of a common gardener's sash. If common window sash is used cut channels in the cross-bars to let the water run off. Dig the ground thoroughly (it is best to cover it in the fall with litter, to keep the frost out) and rake out all stones or clods; then slide in the sash and let it remain closed for three or four days, that the soil may be warmed by the sun's rays. The two end boards and the bottom board should rise as high as the sash, to prevent the heat escaping, and the bottom board of a small frame should have a strip nailed inside to rest the sash on. Next rake in, thoroughly, guano, or phosphate, or finely pulverized hen manure, and plant in rows four to six inches apart. As the season advances raise the sashes an inch or two, in the middle of the day, and water freely, at evening, with water that is nearly of the temperature of the earth in the frame. As the heat of the season increases whitewash the glass, and keep them more and more open until just before the plants are set in open ground, then allow the glass to remain entirely off, both day and night, unless there should be a cold rain. This will harden them so that they will not be apt to be injured by the cabbage beetle, as well as chilled and put back by the change. Should the plants be getting too large before the season for transplanting, they should be checked by root pruning,—drawing a sharp knife within a couple of inches of the stalk. If it is desirable still further to check their growth, or harden them, transplant into another cold frame, allowing each plant double the distance it before occupied.
The structure and management of a hot-bed is much the same as that of a cold frame, with the exception that the sashes are usually longer and the back and front somewhat higher; being started earlier the requisite temperature has to be kept up by artificial means, fermenting manure being relied upon for the purpose; and the loss of this heat has to be checked more carefully by straw matting, and, in the far North, by shutters also. In constructing it, horse-manure, with plenty of litter, and about a quarter its bulk in leaves, if attainable, all having been well mixed together, is thrown into a pile, and left for a few days until steam escapes, when the mass is again thrown over and left for two or three days more, after which it is thrown into the pit (or it may be placed directly on the surface) which is lined with boards, from eighteen inches to two feet in depth, when it is beaten down with a fork and trodden well together. The sashes are now put on and kept there until heat is developed. The first intense heat must be allowed to pass off, which will be in about three days after the high temperature is reached. Now throw on six or eight inches of fine soil, in which mix well rotted manure, free from all straw, or rake in, thoroughly, superphosphate, or guano, at the rate of two thousand pounds to the acre, and plant the seed as in cold frame. Harden the plants as directed in preceding paragraph.