Cabbages and Cauliflowers: How to Grow Them | Page 6

their seed in with a sowing machine,
such as is used for onions, carrots, and other vegetable crops. This is a
very expeditious way, and has the advantage of leaving the plants in
rows instead of bunches, as in the hill system, and thus enables the hoe
to do most of the work of thinning. It has also this advantage: each
plant being by itself can be left much longer before thinning, and yet
not grow long in the stump, thus making it available for transplanting,
or for sale in the market, for a longer period.
The usual way of preparing the hills is to strike out furrows with a
small, one-horse plough, as far apart as the rows are to be. As it is very
important that the rows should be as straight as practicable, it is a good
plan to run back once in each furrow, particularly on sod land where
the plough will be apt to catch in the turf and jump out of line. A
manure team follows, containing the dressing for the hills, which has
previously been pitched over and beaten up until all the ingredients are
fine and well mixed. This team is so driven, if possible, as to avoid
running in the furrows. Two or three hands follow with forks or shovels,
pitching the manure into the furrows at the distance apart that has been
determined on for the hills. How far apart these are to be will depend
on the varieties, from eighteen inches to four feet. On land that has
been very highly manured for a series of years, cabbage can be planted
nearer than on land that has been under the plow but a few years. For
the distance apart for different varieties see farther on. The manure is
levelled with hoes, a little soil is drawn over it, and a slight stamp with
the back of the hoe is given to level this soil, and, at the same time, to
mark the hill. The planter follows with seed in a tin box, or any small

vessel having a broad bottom, and taking a small pinch between the
thumb and forefinger he gives a slight scratch with the remaining
fingers of the same hand, and dropping in about half a dozen seed
covers them half an inch deep with a sweep of the hand, and packs the
earth by a gentle pat with the open palm to keep the moisture in the
ground and thus promote the vegetation of the seed. With care a quarter
of a pound of seed will plant an acre, when dropped directly in the hills;
but half a pound is the common allowance, as there is usually some
waste from spilling, while most laborers plant with a free hand.
The soil over the hills being very light and porous, careless hands are
apt to drop the seed too deep. Care should be taken not to drop the seed
all in one spot, but to scatter them over a surface of two or three inches
square, that each plant may have room to develop without crowding its
neighbors.
If the seed is planted in a line instead of in a mass the plants can be left
longer before the final thinning without danger of growing tall and
weak.
If the seed is to be drilled in, it will be necessary to scatter the manure
all along the furrows, then cover with a plough, roughly leveling with a
rake.
Should the compost applied to the hills be very concentrated, it will be
apt to produce stump foot; it will, therefore, be safest in such cases to
hollow out the middle with the corner of the hoe, or draw the hoe
through and fill in with earth, that the roots of the young plants may not
come in direct contact with the compost as soon as they begin to push.
When guano or phosphates are used in the hills it will be well to mark
out the rows with a plough, and then, where each hill is to be, fill in the
soil level to the surface with a hoe, before applying them. I have, in a
previous paragraph, given full instructions how to apply these. Hen
manure, if moist, should be broken up very fine, and be mixed with
some dry earth to prevent it from again lumping together, and the
mixture applied in sufficient quantity to make an equivalent of a
heaping handful of pure hen manure to each hill. Any liquid manure is

excellent for the cabbage crop; but it should be well diluted, or it will
be likely to produce stump foot.
Cabbage seed of almost all varieties are nearly round in form, but are
not so spherical as turnip seed. I note, however, that seed