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a Copyright Secured.

CARROTS & CABBAGE,

THEIR CULTURE COMPLETE.

How to Raise One Acre of Cabbage as
Cheaply as Two of Corn.

Peis, vei he. RE EN: FULE.

How to Transplant Cabbage, Beets,
Tobacco, &c., ina Dry Day, without
_ Watering.

A VERY SIMPLE COMPOSITION, WHICH WILL DOUBLE
| THE BULK OF HEADS.

THEIR CULTURE COMPLETE.

EVERY MAN HIS OWN BAROME TER,

&C., &C.

HOW T0 GET RICH FROM FIVE ACRES.

| ie yo tr eA “COOK:

Hillsdale, Col. Co., N, Y.

| FOR SALE AT 37 PARK ROW,N. Y. (Room 10).

LING Xe

SO ee ae

Kind of Soil for Carrots, . 2

Sowing Carrots,

Tilling ae
Hoeing ‘e

Weeding =“

Digging “

Storing “

The Value of Carrots,

Carrots vs. Other Roots,

How to Raise and Olean the Seed,
How to Select Good Seed,
Raising Cabbage,

Transplanting Cabbage,

Tilling cs
Heading ¥
Lice on A
Gathering iid ; :

Five Acres Enough,

To Make Plenty of Manure for these Five Acres,

Every Man his own Barometer,

Weather Sayings, &c.,

>>

PAGE

30

TEN YEARS’ EXPERIENCE

CARROTS AND CABBAGE.

Ete AS COM.

Hillsdale, Col. Co., N. ¥.

oe

Mew Bork:
Brown & HEWITT, PRINTERS, 37 PARK Row.

SOO
M ey 0 / /fo#

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by
H. A. COOK,

In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for the Scuthern
District of New York.

Fd
Y

.

INTRODUCTION,

~~

Having observed from early youth by the little garden
bed that carrots were a greatly productive crop, and the
most nutritious root that I grew, I desired to try their
cultivation on a large scale.

The idea seemed to be indelible on my mind, and as
soon as age and circumstances would allow I essayed
to gratify my desire. My great obstacle was Mr. Weed,
which was bound to get ahead of my carrots; but being
somewhat indefatigable in my energies, I gave close
application to years of experiments in devising a plan how
I should raise them without such a heavy tax upon the
back, which seemed to almost “ crack’? under the old
system. I first saw that I must be careful in selecting
my seed, then I must devise a plan to force it, and then
seek a plan to sow it (seeing that I could not sow it
with a drill), then I must devise a different mode of cul-
tivation, and lastly a plan to gather them more easily.

After having reduced my experiments to a system, and
found that I could raise them with less than half the

expense of the old way, I conceived the idea of putting

4. INTRODUCTION.

my plan of raising in the form of a pamphlet, and disclos-
ing it to the world. While raising carrots I also
experimented on cabbages, and found them also to be a
remunerative crop. The success which I reached in
raising them I attribute to a composition which I apply
to the roots, so that they may be transplanted in a dry
day instead of a wet one, thereby leaving the ground
mellow ; my entirely new mode of culture, and, lastly,
my valuable composition (which is simple, cheap, and
in the reach of all) for the heads, which augments the
crop by half at least. Here, reader, I will leave you to

peruse the following pages.

TEN YEARS’ EXPERIENCE

IN RAISING

CARROTS AND CABBAGE.

ope

I estimate that I can raise one acre of carrots as easily
as two acres of corn. Upon keeping aclose account in
the year 1864 of my expenses in raising an acre of 500
bushels, I found it to be $50, aside from interest of land.
At least he who will follow the instructions of the
following pages may raise them at a cost of 10 cents
per bushel.

Kind of Soil—Should be the same as for corn.. Loose
ground, even, quite moist, will raise the largest carrots in
a dry season, while a sandy or quite gravelly soil will do
the best in a wet season. It is best to select a somewhat
dry loom for the carrot patch.

Plow the ground in autumn to kill all grass and
weed roots, simultaneously destroying many weed seeds,
and level the plot well that it may be more easily
leveled in spring. Manure should also be plowed under
in the fall, that most of the weed seeds which it con-
tains will be rendered lifeless by the action of the
winter’s frost. Hog manure composted with swamp
muck is the best. If from necessity you must manure
in spring, look to it that your manure has no weed-seed
In it.

6 TEN YEARS’ EXPRERIENCE IN

Never put carrots two years in succession upon the
sane ground, for they seem to be very exhausting to
a certain ingredient of the soil necessary for their growth,
and only applicable to their nature ; however, not render-
ing the soil futile for almost any other crop, or apparently
not diminishing its strength more than an ordinary corn
crop.

Kind of Seed.The long orange is the best for
nearly every purpose, although the white may grow as
many bushels. Always get new seed, which you can
designate by its being a lively green. Old seed is of a
yellowish hue, and is much longer sprouting (a fact
common to all old seeds).

Sowing.—Sow as early as the dryness of the ground
will admit—if it is done in April the larger will be
the crop—but by all means never work in, or be found on
your ground when it is wet, if so, you will certainly be
sorry. Make it your rule never to be on your patch
when the dirt adheres to your hoe.

Reader, if you adopt the plan of these pages, please
remember their italics. By sowing early—if you are a
farmer—your weeding will be done before haying, and
the carrots will be ripened to dig before the usual heavy
fall rains come on. Carrots that have ripened before
digging seem to have more solidity, and are not so watery
as those which are sowed late, and consequently dug
when growing. Hence we must draw tbe inference that
early sowed carrots are worth more for feeding, as with
any vegetable that ripens before gathering. These latter
remarks are applicable to the 42d° of latitude. Plow
deeply, as they will root as deeply as you plow, if the
soil extends as far. Level the ground that you may
cover the carrots more uniformly, and that in tilling you

RAISING CARROTS AND CABBAGE. %

may not work the dirt from the carrots in the higher
places, consequently leave the root protruding above
ground, nor choke those in lower places by working the
dirt into the hollows. Never ridge the drill for carrots,
for in tilling you necessarily work the dirt away, and
my experience is, that carrots will not thrive best except
the upper end of the carrot be allowed to keep a level
with the surface of the ground.

Harrow the last time in a contrary direction from
which you design to sow. It pays well to handrake
the ground before sowing. If the ground is sideling
make your drills directly up and down the slope, that in
tillimg you may not work too much dirt upon the ypper
side of the carrot.

Now make a hand dray with thills and four prongs,
or teeth, with the bottoms inclining backward (because
if so, it will run more steady), and two feet apart.
Make the bottoms of the teeth a little wedge shape—
quite blunt.

Now draw a line across your patch, and let one prong
of the dray run close to it. Returning, let one prong
follow the last mark back, straightening the crook. Set
the line anew every time around within two inches of the
last mark, that you may the more easily keep your work
straight, and all the drills a uniform distance apart, the
importance of which will be seen especially at the first
time of cultivating, and at the time of plowing them
out in the fall, as I shall subsequently show. Do
not dray out many marks ahead of sowing, as it is
better to have fresh dirt come in contact with the
seed. Three or four days before you wish to sow,
moisten your seed thoroughly, and set it in a warmish
place, say on the mantle-piece, near the stove pipe,
stirring it once a day. If a few seeds should have

Te

TEN YEARS’ EXPERIENCE IN

sprouted a little at sowing time all is well; but be
cautious that they do not get too dry before covering.
The best carrots I ever raised, and the most easily tilled,
were sprouted the sixteenth of an inch at sowing time..
If the ground—from the effects of a late rain—has
_ become too wet when you are ready to sow, and your
seed is liable to sprout, put it in a bag that it may drain,
and hang it in the cellar that the cool air of the cellar
will keep it back. Do not keep it there more than
twelve hours lest it rot, but bring it to the warm air for
another twelve hours, till you think it again has a tenden-
cy to germinate, when if the ground is not yet fit to sow,
go with it to the cellar again. Jn this way I have kept
it from sprouting for eight days before my ground was
fit to sow because of the long rains, when, if I had kept
it behind the stove pipe it would have spoiled. In
five days after. sowing my carrots appeared above
ground.

The utility of soaking the seed is this,—the carrots
will come up quick, consequently get far the start of the
weeds; you can go among them with a horse and cul-
tivator before hoeing, besides saving once weeding and
hoeing,—in fine, half the expense of raising is saved by
sprouting the seed, or rather swelling it till it is just
ready to sprout. With the seed prepared in this wise,
probably no crop is more sure to grow and be produc-
tive of a satisfactory yield than the carrot crop.

But how shall we sow this soaked seed which
sticks to everything so? About an hour before you
wish to sow spread it out very thinly in paus in the
sun, and wind it till it becomes non-adhesive ; but be
cautious that you do not dry it back to its original state,
lest you kill it; however, there is not much danger
of this; now turn a dimner horn (say about two feet

RAISING CARROTS AND CABBAGE. 9

long) bottom up, enlarge the orifice at the lower end
that the seed will not clog within it. See to it that
your seed is not too moist, else you cannot sift it through
the fingers evenly, and it will clog in the horn. Hold
the horn with a gill cup full of seed in the left hand.
Sitt the seed into the horn with the thumb and two
front fingers of the right hand. The horn being conical
the seed will rattle down its sides and seem to come out
as evenly as you could place them with the fingers, if
you move along with the horn with a uniform step. If
nature has given you a long back you must get a long
horn, lest you may not have the ‘“ back-ache.’ Now
traverse your drill which you have just made with your
dray with the little end of your horn close to the bottom
of the drill, especially if the wind blows, sowing with
your fingers in the top of the horn, which, after you
have become used to doing, you will perform about as
fast as you can walk. Have a boy cover after you with
a piece of hoop iron, say eight inches long, nailed to a
hoe handle. <A piece of old cradle scythe is better, being
a little sharp. See that he covers all, and none more
than a half inch deep. Do not sow much before cover-
ing, as the soaked seed will dry too much for its good.
About two pounds of seed per acre is required, yet one
and a half will do uniformly sown; better te have them
too thick than too thin. Sow about four times as much
seed as you wish to have if they all grew well, for many
will not appear, especially if you have a few lumps or
small stones in your ground ; besides, in cultivating and til-
ling you will accidentally destroy many, and, moreover,
it is better to have them come up too thick—for then you
can pull them out—than too thin, for you cannot trans-
plant them and have them do well. By thus sowing
with a horn you can see if you make a mistake, whereas

10 TEN YEARS’ EXPERIENCE IN

with a drill you cannot. For this reason I never have
or will have a drill; besides, if your seed is a little
moist a drill will clog, therefore with a drill you must
sow dry seed, which is generally about three weeks
‘coming up,”’ while the weeds generally will hide the
carrots, and it is like finding a honey bee’s teeth to find
the carrots among the weeds.

With a small boy I can sow one and a half acres per
day, and I estimate that is sowing them fast enough.
Sow as soon as the ground is plowed, if convenient, to
get the start of the weed seed.

After sowing use a heavy hand roller to pulverize the
lumps; the morning is the preferable time to use the
roller, as the lumps are then moist and break easily. It
is said that the heavier (if the ground is dry) they are
rolled the better. A friend informs me that this was
also proven in England, by a horse rolling upon a carrot
patch ; it was found that where he rolled the carrots
were much larger than elsewhere.

A roller can be made by any cobbler from a piece
of log 23 feet in length. An old thrashing machine
cylinder, minus the teeth, makes an excellent roller.
When you have done rolling the carrot patch it is then
useful for other plots.

?

Tilling—Begin as soon as you can see the rows,
especially if you have a large piece. Having nearly or
quite sprouted your seed before sowing, you will be
enabled to take your horse, led by a boy, into the
patch, and cultivate them the first thing, as you would
corn, for they are now two inches above the weeds.
Loosen the dirt deeply. When a plant is young is the
time to give it deep tillage, that the fibrous roots can
shoot out without obstruction—this should be observed

RAISING CARROTS AND CABBAGE. PL

in all tillage. What would you think of him who did
not dig about a tree which he wishes to hastily become
large, till its fibrous roots had become all twisted by
their strenuous eflorts to push through the hard ground ?
We should at once say that his tree would be dwarfish.
So it is with carrots emphatically. A deep culture in
all plants till there is danger of wounding the rootlets,
which are shooting out into the ground made mellow
by the deeplysplunged cultivator or plow, as the first
cultivation is far the best. But do not practice the cor-
responding error of leaving deep cultivation too soon.

Having sowed the rows on a line uniformly two feet
apart, and the cultivator, which should have but three
teeth, as more will clog, set to the width of eighteen
inches, we can now see the utility of having the rows
straight. Should the dirtaccidentally cover some, let the
boy go through the patch with a broom and sweep them
a little—it seems to do the plants good rather than
injure them. Go through twice in each row, as once
seems to just loosen the weeds so that they grow better
than before. You should have sowed them thiek enough
to allow for what the horse may destroy.

Hoeing.—Procure small square cornered hoes, which
are of the best steel, and grind them as sharp as
possible. I would no more think of hoeing in my
garden without a ground hoe than I would of hoeing
without meals, for cutting up weeds with a dull hoe is
like cutting grass with a dull scythe—it is the hardest of
all work, while with asharp hoe it is comparatively easy.
This is one reason why many dislike to work in the gar-
den. Having ground the hoe, send an experienced man
—who should be able to strike almost within a hair’s
breadth of a carrot and not hit it—to clip out what

12 TEN YEARS’ EXPERIENCE IN

weeds he can get at with his hoe, also to thin them as
much as possible with his hoe, but not to weed with his
fingers, fur his back is too long, and his time worth too
much. If he understands his business the job of weeding
with the fingers is but asmall one. Cultivating and hoe-
ing should be done when the ground is very dry.

Weeding.—Weeding should not be done when the
ground is very dry, as the weeds are liable to break off
to sprout again more than when the ground is moist ;
however, if your patch is large continue to weed about
as fast as you hoe, for fear it will not be done; yet bear
in mind never to go on your ground when it is wet.
Now employ boys whom you pay by the row—for then,
they have a greater stimulus to work—whose backs are
shorter than men’s, and who, if of the proper calibre,
will weed as fast as men at much less cost, and do it
easier. Of course they will want the superintendent’s
eye over them. Thin them at the first weeding to two
or three inches asunder. I verily believe I can get more
tons of carrots per acre if they are one foot asinder
than otherwise, but it is more work to attend them
when small, and keep the weeds down. You will
observe even at the first weeding that the scattering ones
are the largest, conclusively proving that they should
be thinned early. In fine, too much cannot be done to
them when young, and 7t will pay. Still, I would not
have the reader believe that he has a great task to raise
them, for I set out in the beginning with the assertion
that one acre of carrots can be raised as easily as two of
corn. It is useless to transplant them.

Do not go among them with a horse after the bottoms
become the size of a man’s finger, for if you muss the
tops about at that size,you are sure to stunt them. Do

RAISING CARROTS AND CABBAGE. 13

not take from, uor add to the dirt about their bottoms,
after they become the above size. You will also stunt
them (somewhat like beans) if you work among them
when wet, which they will show you by their tops fall-
ing and turning a pale yellow. When doing well they
will stand erect and be of a dark green color. When
they have turned yellow in the fall the presumption is
that they are ripe and fit to dig. The same is true of
nearly all roots.

Should weeds appear after the last hoeing, take a sharp
hoe and clip among them, frequently using the hand to
pull the weeds, being very cautious not to disturb the
carrot.

Now that cultivation is done, see to it that fowls,
pigs, or other animals are not allowed to ramble among
them, for they will not do well if disturbed. If you
even run your finger about the top of the root you will
stunt it. No root is so healthy or more sure to grow
and do well than the carrot, if the instructions of the
foregoing pages are thoroughly adhered to, and they
excel all other crops after the root begins to show, in
‘‘ standing ’* excessively dry or wet weather.

Digging.—Let them remain in the ground as long as
you dare for fear of warm weather, as they will keep
best in the ground till quite late; however, if you have
a large patch begin in time to secure them before the
ground freezes. Choose a dry spell in which to dig
them as they are so much cleaner to handle, and being
clean are certainly worth more for stock. It is not poli-
cy to feed dirt to any kind of stock, yet the mere dirt
adheres to roots of any kind the better those roots will
keep.

14 TEN YEARS’ EXPERIENCE IN

Firstly, mow the tops as closely with a scythe as pos-
sible, and pile in a convenient place to cover over your
carrots after they are dug, for it is necessary to put them
in heaps of about thirty bushels, that they may go through
the sweating or drying process. Three or four days be-
fore putting into the cellar, or hole (so ought you with any
root), then cover them with the said tops to keep them
dry; still the tops are poor things to keep the frost out
—straw is better, unless you wish to sell them, in which
case get them off as soon as possible, for they will
weigh more when first dug, for after beg above ground
a little they shrink in weight ‘and size. These tops are
very fine for stock as they come at a time when all
other field fodder has become dry or frost bitten. I have
concluded that an acre of carrot tops is worth as much
for my milch cows as the hay that would have grown
on a similar piece. Perhaps it would not feed quite as
far at the time, but I think it would make as much milk.

Now, after having mowed and raked off the tops, send
a boy with a sharp hoe to cut them off again close to
the butt end of the root. Take a team with a large
plow (which is adapted to turn a furrow directly bottom
side up), and run it as deeply as possible along the out-
side of the first row, with the land side of plow about
four inches from the carrot row; after thus passing
through the patch, wheel and go back to the place of
beginning without plowing. Now, setting the plow at
the place of beginning, go through again, keeping at
this time the carrot row (which has just been cut off,)
alittle to the right of the plow beam ; perhaps it is nec-
essary for one to lean on the beam. Now you will turn
the carrots upon the edge of the last furrow ; here you will
again see the utility of having the rows straight. Take
a potatoe hook (or which is better, an old potatoe hook

RAISING CARROTS AND CABBAGE. 15

which the blacksmith has drawn out to small, long, and
round tines) and rake the carrots out upon the top of the
ground to dry. Thus proceed with each row, always
plowing through twice to a row if the carrots are two
feet apart and your plow is small, but if your plow is
larger than ordinary two horse land plows, you may
succeed in plowing out a carrot row every time the
team goes through. If you break or bruise a carrot it
will not harm it if they are ripe. A carrot broken into
a dozen pieces will keep as well as if it were whole. In
this way I have had a man and boy dig and pick up
ninety-five bushels in one’ day, although it was a short
day of November.

After they are dug carrots are the pleasantest of all
roots to handle, easily ‘“‘ picked up,” quite light to carry,
and very accurately measured in a large basket.

Storing.—After they have remained in heaps above
ground and dried thoroughly, which is the whole secret
of having them keep well through the winter, they
may be put in the cellar in a large bin with impunity,
to be kept till sowing time again, although it is not
advisable to have many left after the middle of April.

After they are dried in the heaps they should be
hauled over again and buried beneath plenty of straw
and dirt, though they need not be secured with manure
like potatoes, for it does not hurt them to freeze a little
if they may stay .beneath the dirt till it has drawn out
the frost. From this we might suppose that they would
keep in the ground without digging all winter, yet they
will not. I suppose the main reason is because one end
of the carrot comes to the surface.

Should they freeze in the heaps at digging time before
you get them secured, throw some dirt upon them till

16 TEN YEARS’ EXPERIENCE IN

the frost is out, or take them to the cellar as quickly as
possible, to escape the sun, and likewise put on a little
dirt. This page is also mostly applicable to the 42d de-
gree of latitude.

On Long Island carrots are buried without straw,
with a little chimney in the centre. Probably this mode
of burying will do on a sandy soil, but I think not on a
soil of loam.

The value of Carrots.—It is generally admitted that
the carrot is the most nutritious of all roots. But the
great desideratum has been it takes so much time and
patience to raise them, and many have concluded and
howled their conclusions abroad, that (because they did
not know how to raise them) it was an awful job to
raise them, and moreover, they were very uncertain to
come up.

No root can be used in so many ways with such
grand results as the carrot. Feed them to the horse and
he keeps on much less grain and hay, drinks less, his
coat slickens (and that which makes his coat shine does
him good surely), not so liable to take cold, does not
fever up when standing still. To learn a horse to eat
them cut a few very fine and mix with his oats.

You can with carrots make as fine butter in winter
as summer by feeding them to the cow, or by grating
them and squeezing out the juice and putting it in the
cream.

Sheep are very fond of them and fatten fast. Hogs
will winter well on them, better if boiled. With boiled
carrots, and one quart of meal per day, I will make a
three hundred store hog so fat, that a man of seventy-five
years can catch him in an open field. Then for a fine
pie they are first in the catalogue of kitchen vegetables,

RAISING CARROTS AND CABBAGE. 17

likewise for coffee, pickles, soup, &e., &c. A clip from
the Couniry Gentleman by this Author :

CARROTS VERSUS OTHER Roots.—Your correspondent
J. V. K., Seneca Falls, N. Y., wishes a “ short account,”
&c., about raising turnips, beets and carrots for dairy
use. You have appended some useful remarks in an-
swer. Please allow me to adda few more. Ihave been
engaged in root raising to the extent of many hundred
bushels each year for several years, both for my farm
stock and marketing. I have experimented in French
turnips, beets and carrots, and consider the carrot decid-
edly superior to any other root. Reasons—Beets re-
quire“as much labor as earrots—no, say you, but you
do not know my mode of raising carrots yet—they
must needs be transplanted; they wither more after
pulling, will not keep as long, are superior for no stock
to the carrot; horses do not love them; they will not
make yellow ‘butter hke carrots; will not make a fine
pie like carrots. In consuming them stock is obliged to
eat too much dirt; and more, if you would have them
keep at all good, you must put them away with much
dirt. Not so with carrots, if they are thoroughly
dried. These same remarks are also applicable to
the turnip, except that they are easier raised than either
beet or carrot. But even the beet far surpasses
Ahem for milk or fattening; they require cutting, and
then seem to hurt the creature’s mouth. Hogs do
not like them except boiled, and then are not eager
for them, while they can be well wintered with either
of the first two. With boiled carrots and one quart of
meal per day, I will fatten a three hundred store hog so
fat that a man of seventy-five years can catch him in an
open field. Besides, ¢ carrots are the cleanest root (if dug
when the ground is dry, as they should be), and lighter
to handle because clean. Therefore, for the aforesaid
reasons I have ignored raising other roots besides the
carrot, except, pethaps, a few French turnips atter some
early crop, rather than have the ground go to weeds,
and even then I think perhaps it is better to plant the
ground to marrowfat beans, unless a few turnips are de-

18 TEN YEARS’ EXPLRIENCE IN

sired for table use. I have not spoken of field turnips.
T always raise what I can of them, for they don’t cost
much, and are not worth much.

A word in regard to the aforesaid idea that ‘ carrots
can be raised easier than any other root.” J find that
I can raise one acre of carrots as easy as two of corn; or
at the expense of ten cents per bushel, believing that the
tops for stock will pay for gathering. In abstracting
my mode of raising them, I would say, that I consider
them the most sure San all Eoede to come up, if I can se-
lect and manage the seed; that with me I can get them
up in five days after sowing two inches ahead of weeds.
I can sow one and a half acres a day with a boy. I
would not take a drill as a gift. Having so much the
start of the weeds, | go among them with a horse culti-
vator of my own invention. I dig them without hand-
ling them till they are ready to put into the cart. In
fine I will say, that he who farms without his carrot
patch, ought to be classed among the old fogy farmers
of the past century.

H. A. Cook.
Hillsdale, Dec. 4, 1865.

How to raise and clean the Seed.—This, too, is very
profitable far from cities where good land is cheap, for
I estimate with proper care $200 or $300 worth can
be grown to the acre. Set them out as early as the
state of the ground will admit, by the use of a crowbar,
about two and a half feet asunder, and hoe them often
if you wish nice, plump seed. Weeds should not be
allowed to grow among them, as the heads will fall down
among them and mildew. They should be tied or poled
up, as it will save alarge percentage of the heads ; never
touch the blossoms lest you blast them, and a false head
is the result. When they are all brown cut them, and
lay them away in an upper chamber till a cold, north-
wind day of winter, when lay them upon a tight floor
and whip off the seed (af you have but a small lot) with

RAISING CARROTS AND CABBAGE. 19

a pliant stick. Sort out the stalks, then continue to
whip the seed till that little fuzz which adheres to
every seed is entirely separated, then sieve and blow
away the chaff as best you may. Do not attempt to
sink them in water, as it will be fruitless. They are
very difficult to clean, yet with care it pays largely. I
would advise any one to change his seed at least every
other year, as they will then grow much more prolific,
both as regards raising the root or seed.

How to select good Seed—New seed is of a deep green
color, and should be plump and even in size. Old seed
is of a yellowish hue, and dead cast, and is much longer
germinating than new seed. In fine, never sow old
seeds of any kind, because they are always tardy in
sprouting. Ihave seen carrot seed three years old come
and do well, but it was a great task to keep down the
weeds, for the carrots were so long in coming to the
surface. I never practice buying many seeds from the
sixpenny papers found at the stores, for [have no chance
to examine them. ‘They are often old seed, or if not
entirely so, a large percentage almost invariably is old
seed.

A true Saying.—Take care of the weeds, for ‘“ one
year’s seeding, makes seven year’s weeding.” This re-
mark should ever be fresh in the gardener’s mind.

20 TEN YEARS’ EXPERIENCE IN

RAISING CABBAGE.

Next to the carrot crop, I consider that cabbages will,
considering the amount of labor, bring the best and
quickest returns if managed according to the following
pages.

In latitude north of 41° but one crop in a season
should be attempted, in which case the ‘“ winter drum-
head” variety is probably the most profitable, and the
most marketable. In more southern latitudes the Sugar
Loaf and Early York are probably the best early varieties,
which may be succeeded the same season by the winter
Drumhead, in which case, the early variety should be
started in the fall in a cold frame, and haste must be ob-
served in putting in the second crop as soon as the first
will do to go to market. Have your plants ready of a
goodly size for the second sitting.

Select strong ground and manure well, but not with
hog manure for this will cause many club-footed cab-
bages. My experience is, that it will effect them thus in
a measure even two years after it is put on. Do not
work your ground when it is wet. If you are in Lat.
41° construct a cold frame (or, as it is often called, a hot
bed) as early as the ground will admit, in which to sow
your cabbage seed. Sow in drills that you may till
them somewhat, as every plant of whatever kind should
be cultivated when young, which is a great defect of
most cultivators. I have heard some remark in that lat-
itude that they did not wish to set out their winter cab-
bage too early, lest some of them burst betore gathering
time, but it is my observation that he who sowed late

RAISING CARROTS AND CABBAGE. 21

was troubled more with false or loose heads in the fall
than with burst heads, while he has the privilege of tak-
ing out his heads that get ripe so early as to burst, and
either use or sell them. However, I assert that I
can make them head if the soil will grow them in time.

Transplanting. — Do not pertorm this when the
ground is wet. Here is where I differ from all other
cultivators. Donot allowan animal or human being upon
the ground when it is wet, if you do, look for hard and
lumpy ground when it becomes dry. Stretch a line
across your patch; if it is sideling, stretch it up and
down the slope, so that when you cultivate the young
plants you will not be liable to throw dirt upon them.
Now make a thick solution of water, muck, plaster
(plaster of paris) and ashes, and draw your young
plants (about a half dozen at once) through this solu-
tion, when each plant will have a little clump of mix-
ture adhering to it. Do not dip thei directly down into
the mixture, if so the little rootlets will turn up and
cleave to the sides, and not be of any use to the plant
when set out, when they are very essential to its pros-
perity. The muck and plaster are both adhesive, draw-
ing moisture and giving strength to the young plant, and
causing it to stand as ereet beneath the rays of a midday
sun as if it had not been transplanted, while the ashes not
only give strength to the plant, but have a tendency to
keep away the grub that often commits such depreda-
tions among the young plants. Do not allow the sun
upon the young plants during the process of transplant-
ing, nor take up too many at atime. Let not over a
half hour elapse between taking up and setting. Place
them in a pan with care that you do not dirty nor break
the leaves (as they are the lungs of the plant). Let the

22 TEN YEARS’ EXPERIENCE IN

leaves get a pretty good size, as the grub has less time
to work at them after they are transplanted.

Now, having stretched your line across the patch,
take a sharpened hard wood stick, one and a half inches
diameter, two and a half feet long, rather bluntly sharp-
ened, that the dirt will not so easily fill the hole which
it makes, and of hard wood that it will not dull easily.
Now take your pan of plants in one hand, and stick in
the other, sticking holes about two feet asunder, and
dropping a plant to each hole, while a faithful boy who
is honest to do his duty, and will not curl up the roots,
setting just a little deeper than they were in the bed,
and pinching the bottom of the hole as well as the
top firmly about the root as he sets the plants, the
neglect of which will result in the loss of many plants. *
In this way, in the middle of a hot day, I have set out
four hundred plants per hour, when two successive hot
days followed, and not over five per cent. of the plants
even wilted from the effects of the sun’s rays. The
ground was free from lumps and loose all about the
plants the season through. When gathering time came
those which were thus set out had nearly double the
bulk of heads in comparison with those which were
transplanted when the ground was wet.

The main reason was, the little rootlets had mellow
ground to push out into all the season ; while lumps and
hard ground must abound, especially on loose ground,
to some extent, when the ground is wet enough to trans-
plant without the composition. But we will not stop
to consider the convenience of transplanting in a dry
day rather than a wet one, for what gardener has not
been bedaubed with wet and mud from head to foot
transplanting cabbage. So much then for our compost

RAISING CARROTS AND CABBAGE. 23

on the roots. With beets, tobacco, &c., this compost
gives the same result.

Set the line off again two feet and proceed as before.
It is not necessary to have them in rows but one way,
that you may go among them with a horse, but that
way have them precisely straight, the utility of which
will become manifest when you come to cultivate. If
the grubs eat them, sprinkle them every third morning |
while the dew is on with a little dust of ashes—say a
teaspoonful. Where one is eaten off take the trouble to
dig out the grub, or he is liable to take off several suc-
cessive ones. ;

Tilling.—The plants should be hoed a little about
the third morning after they are set out, and then scratch
about thema little every week—if oftener it’s all the better.
Stir the ground deeply, at least twice with the plow.
Till them in the morning, though a bean never should
be tilled in the morning. It is not necessary to go
among them with a horse till the leaves become as large
as your hand, when stir the ground deeply ; deep culture
is the great desideratum with any good crop. See to it
that you strike the corner of your hoe down deeply be-
side the young plants, that the side rootlets may be
unobstructed in their course. Early cabbage may be
planted nearer than two feet.

Heading Cabbage-—The most important part, for a
good crop, is yet to be performed. After having tilled
them enough, you can yet make half difference in
number and bulk of heads. You have hoed often and
tilled deeply, which are essential, yea, indispensable to a
good growth, while in the meantime the leaves can be
forced to curl up and form the head, and not retard the

24 TEN YEARS’ EXPERIENCE IN

growth, but, on the contrary, facilitate it. This is done
by the use of another mixture of salt and plaster, two-
thirds of the former to one of the latter. When the
leaves are about half size, and the inner leaves just com-
mence curling, sprinkle in each plant about a teaspoon-
ful of the mixture when the cabbages are damp. In
about two weeks sprinkle them again, adding with im-
punity a little more of the mixture. Thus, I estimate

* you will get $10 per day for your time in applying it, and
$5 a quart for your mixture, for it is evident to my mind
that the crop can thus be increased nearly half. If you
choose to have every head lay close to the ground you
can do so by commencing with this mixture early and
applying frequently, and hilling up the dirt slightly.
Let the quantity of the mixture generally be governed by
the size of the plant. By a flat culture and withholding
the mixture till the cabbage has its height, you may
grow tall cabbage but not the bulk of heads.

Cabbage Lice—During the seasons of 1864 and 65,
it being so dry, they were great pests. They are of a
slate color, with many legs, greatly inclined to assem-
blages, and very hardy, for a severe frost does not seem
to harm them. If they are very thick upon a head they
will greatly deter it from heading, and, being very similar
to stock lice, will cause the body to dwindle, and in many
cases die from their effects. Wet weather seems to af-
fect them more even than September frosts. However,
in ordinarily wet seasons, I think they are not much to
be feared. The only way I have ever mastered them
was to sprinkle soot or fine ashes upon them when they
were damp. The lye of the ashes is more than they -
can stand. The ashes should be finely sifted that no
particles of fine coal, &c., will be found in the head.

"
we
~t

RAISING CARROTS AND CABBAGE,

Guthering.—Let them stand (your winter heads) till
you fear the ground will freeze so hard that you cannot
pull them. Two inches of frost (that is, when the
ground freezes two inches,) will not hurt the heads if
they remain till the ground has drawn all the frost out.
If they are pulled ere the moisture of the earth has done
this complete they will not keep as well. Winter eab-
bage will continue to head till late in the fall, if the
weather is not too severe.

Procure a crotchet stick with a long handle (willow
wood is best, because the lightest):and run it under
each head, lift it, and turn the head upside down,
hitting the roots with one prong of the crotch to knock
off the dirt, but not so hard as to sever the head from
the stump. If you wish to retain the root this mode of
pulling will be a great saving to the back, if you do not,
eut out the heads as you like. But you need not expect
them to keep hard long unless the root is retained. The
leaves and stumps are excellent for stock, being green at
a time when nearly all else is frost-bitten, and will go
far in paying for raising the crop—a_ half acre bearing
many side board loads of fine, fresh leaves, as refuse from
the marketable heads.

Dig a trench the depth of the length of the stem, in
which transplant the loose ones two heads in width and
as closely as possible, lengthwise with the trench, plac-
ing a board on each side, simultaneously pressing the
heads together slightly, and cover with straw and dirt se-
curely from the mice and water. In Spring, if you have
uot pressed them too hard, these loose heads will all be
hard and as fresh as in autumn. Yet it is a question in
my mind whether they are not worth as much for the
cow as to bury, considering the labor. Do not open

26 TEN YEARS’ EXPERIENCE IN

them till the frost has left them, but do it as soon, lest
they begin to rot. Like all buried vegetation they will
not keep long after being exposed to the air. It will
not do to transplant hard.heads thus, for they are apt to
burst. They should be turned bottom up in the trench
and covered as before, in northern latitudes, but in south-
ern latitudes a dirt covering is sufficient, leaving the
roots to the ar. They should never be thrown promis-
cuously in the cellar as they will wilt, and then they
are poor food. For winter’s use put the roots in dirt in
the cellar, guarding against mice and rats. A good
plan is to put the roots in a tub filled in with dirt, then
you have fresh cabbage at any time. In short, properly
managed, cabbages are a very profitable crop, still they
do not seem to be very exhausting to the soil. Like
other garden crops rotation is necessary. Iemember and
not use hog manure for cabbage, lest they head in the ground.

Five acres enough.—Thus with five acres of good
land well manured, and planted to carrots and cabbage,
tilled and harvested according to the instructions of this
pamphlet, any industrious and saving man, with, or
without a family, may be on the high road to wealth.
At the same time he is not a slave to manual labor,
although it will be necessary for him to be alive springand
fall. There are no two crops of vegetables in more de-
mand or more sure to yield a good return for labor.
Ten years ago the first man who raised carrots to sell in
my town found hard work to sell twenty bushels at the
low price of twenty cents per bushel. Now, say for the
last two years, a neighbor and myself have found a home
market for one thousand bushels at 45 and 60 cents per
bushel, although the number of inhabitants have but

RAISING CARROTS AND CABBAGE. 27

slightly increased. The demand is yearly increasing rap-
idly, till now many farmers think they cannot winter
stock healthy (verily they cannot) without roots, and have
concluded that carrots are the best root, containing the
least per cent. of water, cleanest to feed, and the lightest
to handle. Each property alone is very essential. A few
fed to the horse each day gives him a slick coat, and
that which gives a slick coat gives health, keeps him
from catching cold, and saves much grain and _ hay.
Store hogs can be wintered finely with carrots without
any grain. A few fed to the cow, or a little juice
squeezed into the cream, gives a rich yellowish color
to the butter. Sheep fatten rapidly upon them. Cut
up to the size of corn kernels and browned, they
make an excellent coffee. Boiled, and forced through a
cullender, they make a fine pie. For pickles and soup,
they are excellent. In short, there is no vegetable that
can be used more advantageously considering their cost
than the carrot.

Here I need not discuss the value of cabbage, for
the oldest inhabitant knows fully of its value as a vege-
table, and with the two simple and accessible composi-
tions, mentioned in the foregoing pages, used in trans-
planting and heading, they are very profitable, for with
these two compositions, I aver that I will make twice
the bulk of heads per acre to the man who does not use
them, providing he does not bestow any more labor than
T in tilling.

To make plenty of manure for these vegetables.—This is
a great desideratum in raising vegetables. In gardening
five acres I think I could make my own manure from
that alone, and surely it I could have access to muck, I

(w)
io a)

TEN YEARS’ EXPERIENCE IN

would plant say four acres to carrots and cabbage (say
I will raise only these vegetables for my selling crop).
Now, I should want for mine and family’s use, a horse,
cow and hog, which I should keep in the following way:
I would sow in drills a half acre of corn thickly for
fodder, running through it a little with cultivator and
hoe, to get some ears for to boil with some carrots for
my hog, and some for other uses, perhaps. Now I shall
have to buy but very little hay and grain. I have left
one half acre for house, garden and some potatoes. Now
I will keep my horse and cow in stable and yard. Put
in twenty loads of muck under my stables, in my hog
pen and barn yard, to catch those valuable juices which
are generally lost (and these are the vitals of the soil),
throwing in all my waste mould, and thereby make
about forty loads of manure, which, applied to the five
acres every year, will make it quite rich enough. How
many industrious but poor men, with families, are cleav-
ing to New York trying to start some little business in
which they may prosper, but can get no chance from
the fact that every conceivable opportunity is taken up.
How much better to start out and lease (if they cannot
buy) even a five acre plot, and go to raising vegetables
according to the foregoing pages. Methinks the high-
way to success and wealth, with economy and health,
would surely appear.

Every man his own Barometer—In connection with
gardening, it is very essential that we be able, with a
degree of certainty, to foretell the weather, which, in
nine times out of ten we may do about as accurately
as the mercurial barometer, by philosophizing with
nature’s laws, and certain time-honored observations
called signs of the weather. I will notice some of the

RAISING CARROTS AND CABBAGE. 29

indications of a storm. The clouds look heavy and red
in the east at early morn. The smoke settles to the
ground. You smell what they are cooking in yonder
house. The sun comes forth at sunrise, giving a white
light, and soon disappears in the clouds. ‘Thunder in
the morning, sailors take warning.” The fowls get on
the fence and pick themselves. The ducks skip in the
water. Stock is dainty about eating. ‘The fog runs
up hopping—the rain comes down dropping.” Tobacco
leaves are limber. Circle around the sun or moon—
however, if stars can be seen in the moon’s circle the
storm is in the distance. The sun draws water. A
rainbow in the morning. If it rains when the sun
shines, look for a three days’ rain, and of a surety the
next day. The dog eats grass. The stones under the
grass and in the cellar are moist. The outside of the
tin pail or jug sweats, as we say. You observe the
smallest cloud to magnify and grow large rapidly. The
leaves of the poplar and cherry trees turn bottom up.
Plenty of snakes are seen running about. The partridge
drums. The mountains look black. You hear voices and
noises unusually plain at a distance. The noise ofthe car
is plain at a distance. Smoke ushers from the stove into
the room. After a storm, if it clears in nighttime, we
may expect a storm soon again. If the swallows fly
near the ground we may expect a storm near at hand.
Fish jump out of the water. Water boils away rapidly.
The hair of stock looks smooth. We smell the skunk
—smell the sweat of horses when riding aloug. The
tree toad hollows. But the best indication of all is the
following. If, upon blowing out your candle at night,
the spark goes out quickly, prepare for a storm and vice
versa. With the majority of these signs before us, and
the wind in the South, we had better prepare for a storm.

30 TEN YEARS’ EXPERIENCE IN

However, all signs fail in a drouth. But drouths are
few and far between. Itis not necessary in this place to
philosophize upon these indications. Yet if the reader
is somewhat posted ih natural philosophy, he will have
no difticulty in making these indications harmonize with
the laws of nature.

With the supposition that we are now in the midst
of a storm in summer, we will look about to notice some
of the fair weather signs. The sky and sun look red at
night. If it rains very early in the morning (not having
rained during the night) generally look for a good day.
“Tf it rains before seven it will clear before eleven,” is
quite a reliable saying. Whirlwinds are almost sure
signs of dry weather. Now the wind gets in the north,
the fog moves southward, and the sun appears but not
drawing water. The lark comes forth with her song,
and every piece of nature’s handiwork seems, as it were,
to throw off its shackles of solitude ; cognizant that the
king of day will reign, however terrible may have been
the storm. We need not expect much rain when the
moon is overhead, however severe may appear the storm.
Thus, by a little careful observation, we may have a
miniature barometer in reason’s temple, better to be re-
lied upon than all the barometrical mechanism conceived
by the wisdom of man.

Weather Sayings.—The direction of the wind at the
vernal equinox, thus it will be most of the season. Long
icicles indicate deep snows. Three frosts and then a
rain. When the wild geese go north spring is about to
open, a saying only worthy of notice above the 42d° of
latitude. A dusty summer, a snowy winter, which will
only appear in northern latitudes. If winter comes in
quietly it will go out boldly. If it storms the first

RAISING CARROTS AND CABBAGE. on

Sunday of a month it will storm every Sabbath but one,
and so with any other day of the week. Choose full
moons for fairs and concerts, &e. Our heaviest snows
come from the northwest. If the first snow goes off with
a rain, all will. So many fogs in February, so many
frosts in May, and about the same day of the month. A
winter fog will freeze a dog—that is, in a few days. A
storm will not amount to much when the moon is over-
head. A cold, wet May fills the barn with grain and
hay. Thunder in spring is indicative of cold weather.
If chauticleer crows on his roost at evening, there will
be a change in the weather before morning. In winter,
after a storm, the second clear day is the coldest. If
grass grows in March, it will be frozen in May—ap-
plicable to northern latitudes. When the whippoor-
will hollows, expect warm weather. The second of
February is Candlemas day. So far as the sun shines in so
far the snow will blow in—applicable to northern lati-
tudes. If it clears off near two o’clock Pp. M., we may
expect a fair day to-morrow, if at two o’clogk a. M., we
had better prepare for another storm. Make ready fora
severe storm at the vernal and autumnal equinox.
Weather calculations are subject to so many variations
that no invariable rule or theory can be established. Yet
with a close observation of the foregoing signs and say-
ings, we may predict the weather with quite a reliable
certainty. With such a strict observance the farmer
and gardener may often save himself much labor, and
save his crops from the exposure of the storm.

ta fin ib
eeu aah

ITN ina

TTT II mI HMMM

AND

OX SPRING,

BOTH UNDER ONE PATENT.

Very useful for balky or discouraged animals, or to pre-
vent breakage of harness, plows, drags, mowing machines,
or any farming implements ; useful for cars, canal boats, &e.

Young horses can now work among rocks as well as old
ones.

The driver does not get hurt with the plow handles.

A horse will draw fifty times without being discouraged.

It serves as a cushion for the horse’s breast. |

Springs only when striking an obstruction.

Very durable.

This appears like a good improvement,—Scventyfic Amer-

H. A. COOK, Patentee.

HILLSDALE, COL. CO., N. ¥.

ican.