Soil Culture. J. H. Walden

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СКАЧАТЬ and very small at the ground, is the best with which we are acquainted. Of this variety (the seed of which was brought from Germany), we have raised solid heads, larger than a half bushel, while others called good, standing by their side, did not grow to more than half that size. This variety may be distinguished by the purple on the top of the grown head, and by the decided purple of the young plants, resembling the Red Dutch, though not of quite so deep a color.

      Red Dutch, having a very hard, small head, deep purple throughout, is the very best for pickling; every garden should have a few. They are also good for ordinary purposes.

      Green Curled Savoy, when well grown, is a good variety.

      The Imperial, the Russian, Large Scotch for feeding, and others, are enumerated and described, but are inferior to the above. It is useless to endeavor to grow cabbages on any but the best of soil. Plant corn on poor land, and it will mature and yield a small crop. Plant cabbages on similar soil, and you will get nothing but a few leaves for cattle. Therefore, if your land designed for cabbages be not already very rich, put a load of stable-manure on each square rod. Cabbages are a very exhausting crop. The soil should be worked fully eighteen inches deep, and have manure well mixed with the whole. The best preparation we ever made was by double-plowing—not subsoiling, but plowing twice with similar plows: put on a good coat of manure, and plow with two teams in the same furrow, one plow gauged so as to turn a light furrow, and the other a very deep one, throwing it out of the bottom of the first; when the first plow comes round, it will throw the light furrow into the bottom of the deep one. This repeated over the whole plot will stir the soil sixteen or eighteen inches deep, and put from four to six inches of the top, manure and all, in the bottom, under the other. We have done this admirably with one plow, changing the gauge of the clevis every time round, and going twice in a furrow: this is the best way for those who use but one team in plowing; it is worth much more than the additional time required in plowing. Enrich the surface a little with fine manure, and you have land in the best possible condition for cabbages. This is a fine preparation for onions and other garden vegetables, and for all kinds of berries. Subsoiling is good, but double-plowing is better in all cases, where you can afford to enrich the surface, after this deep plowing.

      The alluvial soils of the West need no enriching after double-plowing. Land so level, or having so hard a subsoil as to allow water to stand on it in a wet season, is not good for cabbages. They also suffer more than most crops from drought. One of the most important offices of plenty of manure is its control of the moisture. Land well manured does not so soon feel the effects of drought. One of the best means of preserving moisture about the roots of cabbages, is to put a little manure in the bottom of the holes when transplanting; put it six inches below the surface. Manure from a spent hotbed is excellent for this purpose; it is in the best condition about the time for transplanting cabbages. It is then very wet, and has a wonderful power of retaining the moisture. Manure from the blacksmith-shop, containing hoof-parings, &c., is very good. If the manure be too dry, pour in water and cover immediately. Set the plant in the soil, over the manure, the roots extending down into it, with a little fine mould mixed in it, and it will retain moisture through a severe drought; no further watering will be necessary, and not one out of twenty-five of all your plants will fail to make a good head. In climates subject to drought in summer, cabbages should be set out earlier; they require more time in dry weather than in wet. Should they incline to crack open from too rapid growth, raise them a little, and push them down again; this will break some roots, and so loosen the remainder that the growth will be checked and the heads saved. Winter cabbages should be allowed to stand in the ground as long as possible, without danger of freezing in. The question of transplanting, and of sowing the seed in the places where they are designed to head, has been much controverted. We have succeeded well in both ways, but prefer transplanting; it gives opportunity to stir the ground deep, and keep down weeds, and thus preserve moisture until summer, when it is time to transplant; it also makes shorter, smaller, and straighter stems, which is favorable to a larger growth of heads. Sow seed on poor land; the plants will be straighter, more hardy, and less affected by insects. Seed for early spring cabbages should be sown on poor soil in September or October; if inclined to get too forward, transplant, once or twice; late in fall, set them close together, lay poles in forks of limbs put down for the purpose, and cover with straw, as a protection from severe frost; the poles are to prevent the covering from lying on the plants.

      Preserving, for winter or spring use, is best done by plowing a furrow on land where water will not stand, and placing the heads in the furrow with the roots up. Cover with earth from three to six inches deep, letting the roots protrude. The large leaves will convey all the water off from the heads, and they will come out as fresh and good as in the fall. If you wish some, more easily accessible, for winter use, set them in the cellar in a small trench, in which a little water should be kept, and they will not only be preserved fresh, but will grow all winter, if the cellar be free from frost. They are also well preserved put in trenches eighteen inches deep, out door, with a little good soil in the bottom, and protected with poles and straw as directed for winter plants. Cabbages that have scarcely any heads in the fall, so treated, will grow all winter, and come out good, tender, fresh heads in spring.

      Transplanting.—This is usually done in wet weather: if it be so wet as to render the soil muddy by stirring, it injures the plants. This may be successfully done in dry weather, not excessively hot. Have a basin of water, in which dip the root and shake it, so as to wash off all the earth from the seed-bed that adheres to it. Put the plant in its place at once, and the soil in which it is to grow takes hold of the roots readily, and nearly every one will live. Transplant with your hand, a transplanting trowel, a stick, or a dibble made of a spade-handle, one foot long, sharpened off abruptly, and the eye left on for a handle. Put the plant in its place, thrust the dibble down at a sharp angle with the plant, and below it, and move it up to it. The soil will thus be pressed close around the roots, leaving no open space, and the plant will grow. Do not leave the roots so long that they will be doubled up in transplanting—better cut off the ends.

      Large cabbages should be three feet apart each way, and in perfectly straight rows; this saves expense in cultivating, as it can be done with a horse. The usual objections of farmers to gardening, on account of the time required to hoe and weed, would be remedied by planting in long, straight rows, at suitable distances apart, to allow the free use of horse, cultivator, and plow, in cultivating; thus, beets, carrots, cabbages, onions, &c., are almost as easily raised as corn. An easy method of raising good cabbages is on greensward. Put on a good dressing of manure, plow once and turn over handsomely, roll level, and harrow very mellow on the top, without disturbing the turf below; make places for planting seeds at the bottom of the turf; a little stirring of the surface, and destruction of the few weeds that will grow, will be all the further care necessary. The roots will extend under the sod in the manure below it, and will there find plenty of moisture, even when the surface is quite dry, and will grow profusely.

       Seed.—Nothing is more difficult in cabbage culture than raising pure seed; nothing hybridizes worse, and in nothing else is the effect worse. It must not be raised in the same garden with anything else of the cabbage or turnip kind; they will mix in the blossoms, and the worse will prevail. Raise seeds only from the best heads, and only one variety; break off all the lower shoots, allowing only a few of the best to mature. Seeds raised from stumps, from which the head has been removed for use, will incline the leaves to grow down, as we often see, instead of closing up into heads.

      CALVES

      The best method of raising calves is of much importance. It controls the value and beauty of grown cattle. Stint the growth of a calf, and when he is old he will not recover from it. Much attention has been paid to the breed of cattle, and some are very highly recommended. It is true that the breed of stock has much to do with its excellence. It is equally true that the care taken with calves and young cattle, has quite as much to do with it. We can take any common breed, and by great care in raising, have quite as good cattle, for market or use, as can another, who has the best breed in the world, but keeps them indifferently. But good breeds and good keeping make splendid animals, and will constantly improve СКАЧАТЬ