CABBAGE. Bpassica oleracea ccvpitata. Of the various classes of culinary vegetables the cabbage family (Brassica) is most ancient, as well as most extensive, being cultivated in all quarters of the globe from the Torrid Zone to the Arctic Circle. Of the 1,000 species enumer ated by Dr Lindley, all are harmless, and many of them are highly useful. It was a favorite vegetable among the ancient Romans, and was introduced wherever their armies penetrated. Cabbage delights in a deep, rich, loamy soil, though it will flourish in any soil, not too dry, if well manured. The cabbage is a gross feeder, and gardeners generally give the land at least forty loads of rich manure per acre. For extra early heads sow the seed in February or early in March, in a hot-bed, and transplant when large enough, four inches apart, in a cold frame. Just before corn-planting time the plants may be set in the open air in rows, nearer or further apart, according to the variety. Un der ordinary circumstances, the seed may be sown in a mild hot-bed about the middle of March, or in a cold frame April 1st, and trans planted to the open air when from four to six inches high. The cultivation consists in keeping the spaces between the rows mellow with the culti vatox, and the earth about the plants frequently stinfd with a hoe or narrow rake. The following is a list of varieties: Early varieties—Early Wakefield. Plant twenty inches apart between rows, and eighteen inches in the row. Early York, one of the earliest and inost reliable sorts. Plant twenty inches apart between rows, and fifteen inches apart in the row. Winning stadt. Plant two feet by eighteen inches. In termediate varieties—Small Ox-heart; an excel lent, firm, hardy variety. Plant two feet by six teen inches. Large Ox-heart; about a week later than the preceding; excellent and firm head. Plant two feet apart each way. Fatt ier; a very firm variety, a constant header. and in good repute in the Western United States. Plant two feet apart each way. Early Flat Dutch; an excellent cropper, and sure to head. Plant thirty inches by two feet. Pomeranian ; a
medium sized cabbage, the heads like an elongated cone; the leaves are peculiarly twisted at the top ; good for autumn or win ter; solid and bearing carriage well. Plant two feet apart each way. Late cabbage—Pre mium Flat Dutch; the best cabbage for general cultivation, doing well South or North; one of the best late fall or winter cabbages, keeping through the winter, and even to May, perfectly sound. Plant three feet by thirty inches apart. Stone-mason; a good, solid cabbage, tender and sweet. Plant three by three feet. Large, Late Drumhead; a hardy variety,. ra:ther loose in the bead, but generally heading well. Plant three by three feet apart. Champion of America; this cabbage is of an immense size, sometimes attaining a weight of forty pounds; is a good, tender, well-flavored sort, but objectionable on account of its size. Plant three and a half by three and a half feet apart. There are many ways of saving cabbage through the winter. For use durino: the season of hard frosts the cabbage may be taken up and set in the ground on their roots, in the cellar. For late winter or spring use, dig a trench on some dry spot, four and a half feet wide, and to a depth of the bead of the cabbage, not counting the root. Just before the ground freezes up, or when hard freezing nights occur, place the cabbage heads down, as thickly together as possible, throwing the earth over the whole as you extend the trench, so as to cover the cabbage up to the roots. So proceed until you have the whole buried. When the ground freezes pretty solid— fully down to the heads—cover all over with straw (flax straw is best) to keep the frost in as long as possible. In this way the heads may be preserved intact, and in any quantity, until the first of May. The insects attacking cabbage are numerous. Cut-worms, Flea-beetles, and other insects, attack the young plants in the seed bud; later, the most destructive are the larvae of the European and American Cabbage Butter fly. These may be found under their appropriate names.