Cut them before the severe fall frosts, leaving about 2 inches or more of the stem attached. Let the out side leaves remain on. Tie a strong cord about the stalks, and hang them from the timbers of tbe ceiling of a cool, dry cellar, heads downward. Several cabbages may be suspended on one cord one above another, and in this way a large number can be stored in an ordinary cellar, just enough space being left among them to admit of a circulation of air.
Or pack in sawdust in large casks or packing cases. Take care to have a layer of several inches of sawdust between the cabbages and the box. Put them in any outhouse and let them freeze. Sawdust being a non conductor, they will not thaw out un til spring, and will not be injured.
Or cabbages may be stored out of doors by loosening tbe earth about the roots and pulling them up with out shaking off the dirt which ad heres. Now set them out in furrows, burying the roots just as they grow up to the head in soil. Let the heads touch. Drive posts in the ground, build a shed roof over them of rough boards or poles high enough so that there will be circulation of air be tween the roof and the cabbages, and cover the roof with corn fodder or straw. Pack straw or meadow hay around the sides to keep out the snow, and let them freeze. They will keep green and fresh all winter.
Sauerkraut. — Sauerkraut consists of sliced cabbage laid down between layers of common salt—at the rate of about one pint of salt to a barrel of cabbage—in a wooden tub or firkin, and with the addition of black pep per, anise, mustard, caraway, or cel ery seed if desired.
Thoroughly scald the tub, firkin, or cask. Remove the outer leaves of the cabbage and use them to line the cask. Slice the heart of the cabbage fine by means of a slaw cutter or sharp knife. Place a layer of clean leaves on the bottom of the cask. Sprinkle over them a small handful of salt and put in a layer of sliced cabbage about 6 inches in depth, using the outer leaves as a lining to keep the sliced cabbage from the sides of the cask. Sprinkle over the cab bage a small handful of salt, and by means of a wooden beetle or the end of a round stick of hard wood, pound the cabbage until it is a solid mass, or until the juice just makes its ap pearance, but do not pound or salt the cabbage too much. Now add an
other layer of cabbage and another handful of salt, and so continue pounding down each layer solidly until the cask is nearly full.
Cover ,the top over with the loose outer leaves, and lay over these sev eral thicknesses of cheese cloth. Lay on a loose cover of boards and on this a weight of stone equal to 25 or 30 pounds. Let the cask stand in a warm place for three or four weeks, during which it will ferment and give off at first a very disagreeable odor. After forty-eight hours, if brine has not been formed, add a little salt water, about as salt as tears, to cover the cabbage. After two days more, add more salt water, if necessary, until brine forms over the top of the board cover and a scum appears. Remove the cloth cover, taking the brine with it, rinse thoroughly in cold water, wring dry, and return to its place. Continue to do this every few days until it ceases to ferment. This will require four or five weeks. It is then ready for use and may be stored in any cool, dark place.
Sauerkraut is usually made in the fall for winter use, but if it is desired to keep what is left for use in sum mer, squeeze out the brine through cheese cloth. Select a suitable earth enware jar, sprinkle the bottom with salt and pack the sauerkraut in this. Make a brine by dissolving 1 table spoonful of salt to a quart of cold water. Bring to a boil over a slow fire removing the scum as it rises. Set aside to cool and pour over the sauer kraut. Lay over the top several thicknesses of cheese cloth, and tie over the jar a piece of cotton batting. This will keep until the hottest days of summer.
Cauliflower. — In a well-drained part of the garden dig a ditch 12 or 15 inches deep and 12 inches wide.
Pack the cauliflowers in this with the roots down and cover with earth up ta the heads. Fill the trench with hay or straw 6 or 8 inches thick, and weight it down with stone, earth, or boards.
Or pack the cauliflowers on the cel lar bottom, burying the roots and stalks in earth. In this way they can be kept until the ist of March or later.