. CABBAGHS: HOW TO GROW THEM. A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON CABBAGE CULTURE, GIVING FULL DETAILS ON EVERY POINT, INCLUDING KEEPING AND MARKETING THE CROP. By JAMES J. H. GREGORY Introducer of the Marblehead Cabbages. NEW YORK: ORANGE JUDD COMPANY, 245 Broadway. CABBAGES : HOW TO GROW THEM. & PRACTICAL Treatise on Cabbage Culture, GIVING FULL DETAILS ON EVERY POINT, INCLUDING KEEP- ING AND MARKETING THE CROP. JAMES J. H. GREGORY, INTRODUCER OF THE MARBLEHEAD CABBAGES. NEW YORK: ORANGE JUDD COMPANY, 245 Broadway. é) Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by JAMES J, H. GREGORY, At the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. CONTENTS. Object of Treatise - - - 3 The Origin of Cabbage - - - 3 What aCabbageis - =) ap ® 4 Selecting the Soil - - + =: 6 Preparing the Soil - + - 7 The Manure - - - - - 8 How to Apply the Manure : Making the Hills and Planting the Seed Care of the Young Plants -~— - Protecting the Plants from their Enemies - - - - - 18 ; The Green Worm-- - - 21 Club or Stump Foot- - =- 22 Care of the Growing Crop - a 27 Marketing the Crop “10 =e hee 28 Keeping Cabbages through Winter 30 Having Cabbage Make Heads in Winter - - - - : 36 Varieties of Cabbage - - - 38 Early York - - spy 4s 40 Large York - - ~- - 40 Early Oxheart - - - 41 Early Sugar Loaf - - - 41 Early Winnigstadt - - 41 Red Dutch - - - : Red Drumhead~ - - - The Little Pixie - - - Early Schweinfurt or Schwein- furt Quintal - : - Early Wakefield” - - - Early Wyman I ees hs Premium Flat Dutch : : Early Low Dutch- -— - StoneMason - - - - Large Late Drumhead-— - Marblehead Mammoth , oO aa Page. American Green Glazed - : 50 Fottler’s Early Drumheads- - 50 Bergen Drumhead~ - - - bi Cannon Ball - - - - = tl Savoy Cabbage - - Ge ke Drumhead Savoy - Spike = 52 Pancalier - - : s < 53 Early UlmSavoy - - - ~- 53 Early Dwarf Savoy -— - Ba tee Improved American Savoy - - 54 Golden Savoy SOREN LUT eT Norwegian Savoy - - - - 54 Victoria, Russian, Cape Savoys 55 Feather Stemmed Savoy - = 55 Large Brunswick Short Stemmed 55 Early Empress” - - : - 55 Robinson’s Champion Ox Drumh’d 55 English Winnigstadt - - - 55 Blenheim” - - - - 55 Shillings Queen - - - - 55 Carter’s Superfine Early Dwarf- 55 Enfield Market Improved - - 56 Kemp’s Incomparable - - - 56 Fielderkraut — - - - - - 56 Ramsay’s Winter Drumhead 56 Pomeranian Cabbage - - - 56 Alsacian Cabbage at : 56. Marbled Burgogne - - - - 56 Early Dutch Drumhead - - 56 Cabbage Greers - - - - 456 Cabbage for Stock - + - - 58 Raising Cabbage Seed =U ge VOL Cooking Cabbage, Sour Krout, &c 62 Cabbage Under Glass -— - - 64 Cold Frame and Hot-Bed - - 66 Cauliflower, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Kale and Sea Kale - 68 AltA i i Mi ‘ ; ( ye * il ; | , « i f i : i x \ . ' , i i Hiei i f . ta! 4 Dh A ‘ ve } iat i t f f E tf ie i f | ¥ i 5 f 3 ba i 0 + / J f nT ay ci u Me { ; i i { ( 0, ee : | De id f ij ia 13) t j nt DY Liane Oak : ( a) Fe ¥ BT Nt . , i Ree) ae i vy eb Him ee | in DA} ’ oe i 1 a Wwe: " ' ne Aue Gf e sol i} J oi ay i ri } wr Tage 1 { 1 als 1 a sits f Mint a Wa at Wi Whale Vd Mt n vn te mi i Mee 4 1) | ' Woy i} ALA hehe i) Ang ib 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. Lhave endeavored to talk in a very practical way, drawing from a large observation and experience, and receiving, in describing varieties, some valuable information from MecIntosh’s work, ‘‘ The Book of the Garden.”” The dif- ferent inquiries made from time to time have given mea pretty clear idea of the many heads under which informa- tion is wanted ; and it has been my aim to give this with the same thoroughness of detail as in my little work on Squashes. . THE ORIGIN OF CABBAGE. Boranists 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 orussels sprouts, had their origin in the wild cabbage of Kurope, (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. 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 4 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM. ETC. have the heading cabbage in its numerous varieties, the creamy cauliflower, the feathery kale, the curled savoy. The cultivated cabbage was first introduced into Great Britain by the Romans, and from England nearly all the kinds cultivated in this country were originally brought. Those which we consider as pecu- liarly American varieties have only been made so by years of careful improvement on the original sorts. The characteristics of these varieties will be given farther on. WHAT A CABBAGE IS. 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 cbserve 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 blossom stem will push out from each. Hence 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 which encloses 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 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. o 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 ter- mination 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 tender- ness to toughness in their structure: I think, therefore, that the degree of failure in the parallel may be meas- ured 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, when standing amid acres of large, solid heads in the early Spring months, when green food of all kinds is searee, to cut and use such an immense amount of rich food, which, to the inexperienced eye, 6 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. appears to be utterly wasted if left to decay, dry, and fall to the ground; but, for the reasen given, Ihave 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. SELECTING THE SOIL. 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 in its natural state the richer from a gradual accumulation of the wash from the up- land, when manure was but sparingly used cabbage would thrive better there than elsewhere,—and not, as was generally held, because that vegetable needed a moister soil 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 said land than there is in seasons of excessive moisture a 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, in reality from want of food. The smaller varieties of cabbage will thrive well on CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 7 either light or strong soil, but the largest drumheads do best on strong soil. Tor the Brassica family, including cabbages, cauliflowers, turnips, etc., there is no soil so suitable as freshly turned sod, and it is well to have as stout a crop of clover or grass growing on this sod when turned under as possible ; and L incline to the belief that it would be a judicious investment to start a thick xrowth of these by the application of guano to the surface sufficiently long before turning the sod to allow for its effects on the growth of the clover or grass. If the soil be very sandy in character, I would advise that the va- riety planted be the Winnigstadt, which in my experi- ence 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. PREPARING THE SOIL. 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, as the land will thereby be made dryer in early Spring. In New Eng- land the soil for cabbages should be ploughed as deep as the sub-soil, and the larger drumheads should be planted only on the deepest soil. Should the plan be to plant for a late crop, it will be best to plough sod land just before planting, that the crop may have the advantage of the growth of grass turned under, which will help as manure towards feeding it. If the season should prove a favorable one, a good crop of cabbage & CABBAGES, HOW TU GROW THEM, ETC. may be grown on sod broken up immediately after a crop of hay has been taken from it. 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. , 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 gang plough or cultivator. On ploughed sod I have found nothing so satisfactory as Share’s harrow, which not only cuts the manure up fine and works it well under, but by the same operation can be made to cut and pulverize the turf until the sod is 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. THE MANURE. Any manure but hog manure for cabbage,—barn manure, rotten kelp, night soil, guano, phosphates, wood ashes, fish, salt, glue waste, hen manure, slaughter-house manure. Ihave 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.” I have found barn manure on which hogs have run, two hogs to each animal, excellent. The cabbage is the rankest CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. y of feeders, and to perfect the larger sort a most liberal allowance of the richest composts is required. To grow the smaller varieties cither barn-yard manure, guano, phosphates, 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 ne carlier the crop will mature. As arule, the richer manures are in ammonia’ the better they are for cabbage. 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, 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 casy access with soil or muck 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 has set 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 matcrials 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 five to twelve cords will be required 10 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. tothe acre. Ifthelandis in good heart by previous high cultivation, or the soil is naturally very strong, five 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 HOWTO" 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 ma- nure 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, phosphates, 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 re- lied 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 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 diam- eter ; the second man follows with a pronged hoe, or CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, Etv. ze 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. Unlessthe guano (and this is true alse of most phosphates) 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 phosphates 1 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. I have found Cumberland phosphate, manufactured at Portland, Maine, Baugh’s phosphate, Pacific guano, each excellent of its kind. 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. Fish and glue waste are exceedingly powerful ma- nures, 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. ‘‘ Pogey cheese’’ or ‘* chum,” the refuse after pressing out the oil from menhaden, and now sold extensively along the sea coast 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. Glue waste is a very coarse, lumpy: manure, and requires a great deal of severe manipulation if it is to be applied 12 CABBAGES, HOW O GROW THEM, ETC. the first season. . CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 67 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 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 es- caping, 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 pulver- ized 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 temper- ature 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 re- main 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 drawing a sharp knife within a couple of inches of the stalk. If it is desirable 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 being started earlier the requisite tem- perature 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 68 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 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 to- gether, 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) 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 sn and kept.there until heat is developed. The first intense heat must be allowed to pass of which will be in about three days after the high tem- perature is reached. Now throw on six or eight inches of fine soil in which mix a very liberal supply of 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. CAULIFLOWER, BROCCOLI, BRUSSELS SPROUTS, KALE, AND SEA KALE. My treatise on the cabbage would hardly be complete without some allusion to such prominent members of the Brassica family as the cauliflower, broccoli, brussels sprouts, and kale. These in the selection and prepara- tion of the soil, manure, and cultivation require for the most part the same treatment as cabbage. In Europe there has been far more progress made in the cul- tivation and use of these vegetables than with us in America; and I am indebted to the work of Mcln- tosh for many of my ideas in this section. The broc- CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. 69 coli are closely allied to the cauliflower, the white varieties bearing so close a resemblance that one of them, the Welcheren, is by some classed indiscriminate- ly with each. The chief distinction between the two is in hardiness, the broccoli being much the hardier. The Cauliflower requires the same distance apart in the rows and between the plants as cabbage, the early and late varieties corresponding in this respect with the early and late varieties of cabbage. To perfect them the very highest cultivation possible is required; give them strong, deep soil, very thoroughly worked. A fine cauliflower is the pet achievement of the market gar- dener. The great aim is not to produce size only, ‘ but the fine, white, creamy color, compactness, and what is technically called curdy appearance, from its resem- blance to the curd of milk in its preparation for cheese. When the flower begins to open, or when it is of a warty or frost-like appearance, it is less esteemed. It should not be cut in summer above a day before it is used.’’ The cauliflower is served with milk and butter. or it may become a component of soups, or be used as a pickle. Many of the varieties given in catalogues are but synonyms on, and very closely resemble each other. Of these, the most desirable for cultivation are Harty Errurt, Harr Harty Paris or Demt Dur (this is the kind usually sold in this country as Early Paris,’ the true variety making so small a head as to be com- paratively worthless here) WELCHEREN, LarGe ASIATIC, Earty Lonpon, LENORMAND. Cauliflower seed is grown to but a limited extent in this country, being generally imported from France, Germany, and England. The Half Early Paris has been the basis. from which one excellent variety has been raised for a series of years by Mr. Pierce in the vicinity of Boston, called the Boston Marker cauliflower. 70 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. The leaves of the Early Erfurt growing close to the head permit its being planted nearer than any other early sort. Of Broccoli over forty varieties are named in foreign catalogues, of which WELCHEREN is one of the very best. Kyicut’s PRoTectING is an exceedingly hardy dwarf sort. As a rule the white varieties are preferred to the purple kinds. Plant and treat as cauliflower. Of Brussels Sprouts (or bud-bearing cabbage) there are but two varieties, the dwarf and the tall; the tall kind produces more buds, while the dwarf is the hardier. The ‘“ sprouts” form ‘on the stalks, and are’ minature heads of cabbage from the size of a pea to that of a pigeon’s egg. They are raised to but a limi- ted extent in this country, but in Europe they are grown on a large scale. The sprouts may be cooked and served like cabbage, though oftentimes they are treated more as a delicacy and served with butter or some rich sauce. The Fratuer Stem Savoy and DaLMEeny Sprouts, are considered as hybrids, the one between the brussels sprouts and Savoy, the other between it and Drumhead Savoy. The soil for brussels sprouts should not be so rich as for cabbage, as the object is to grow them small and solid. Give the same distance apart as for early cabbage, and the same manner of cultivation. Break off the leaves at the sides a few at a time when the sprouts begin to form and when they are ready to use cut them off with a sharp knife. Kale. Sea kale or sea cabbage is a native of the sea coast of England, growing in the sand and pebbles of the sca shore. It isa perennial, perfectly hardy, with- standing the coldest winters of New England. The CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. fal blossoms, though bearing a general resemblance to those of other members of the cabbage family, are yct quite unique in appearance, and I think are worthy of a place in the flower garden. It is propagated both by seed and by cuttings of the roots, having the rows three feet apart, and the plants three feet apart in the rows. Plant seed in April and May. The ground should be richly manured and deeply and thoroughly worked. It is blanched before using. In cooking it requires to be very thoroughly boiled, after which it is served up in melted butter and toasted bread. The sea kale is highly prized in England, but thus far its cultivation in this country has been very limited. The Borecole or common kale is of the cabbage family, but is characterized by not heading like the cab- bage or producing eatable flowers like the cauliflower and broccoli. The varieties are very numerous, some of them growing very large and coarse, suitable only as food for stock ; others are exceedingly finely curled, and excellent for table use; while others in their color and structure are highly ornamental. They are annual, biennial, and perennial. They do not require so strong a soil or such high manuring as other varictics of the cabbage family. The varieties are almost endless ; some of the best in cultivation for table use are Dwarr GREEN CURLED or GERMAN GREENS, TALL GREEN CuRLED, PURPLE BoRE- COLE, and the variegated kales. The crown of the plant is used as greens, or as an ingredient in soups. The kales are very hardy, and the dwarf varieties with but little protection can be kept in the North well into the Winter in the open ground. Plant and cultivate like Savoy cabbage. The variegated sorts with their fine curled leaves of 72 CABBAGES, HOW TO GROW THEM, ETC. a rich purple, green, red, white, or yellow color are very pleasing in their effects, and form a striking and attrac- tive feature when planted in clumps in the flower garden ; particularly is this so because their extreme hardiness leaves them in full vigor after the cold has destroyed all other plants,—some of the richest colors are developed along the veins of the uppermost leaves after the plant has nearly finished its growth for the season. The Jersey Cow Kate grows to from three to six feet in height and yields a great body of green food for stock ; have the rows about three feet apart, and the plants two to three feet distant in the rows.’ In several instances my customers have written me that this kale raised for stock feed has given them great satisfaction. The THousanD Heapbep Katz is a tall variety sending out numerous side shoots, whence the name. It NOTICH, am | MY LARGE ILLUSTRATED) CATALOGU Es SHEDS “SENT FREE TO ALL APPLICANTS, James J, HB, Gregory, | | MARBLEHEAD, MASS. | | Vegetable and Flower | | |