Cabbages and Cauliflowers: How to Grow Them Part 3

Until the introduction of Fottler's Drumhead it was the standard drumhead cabbage in the markets of Boston and other large cities of the North. Have the rows three feet apart, and the plants from two to three feet apart in the row.

~Large Late Drumhead.~ Heads large, round, sometimes flattened at the top, close and firm; loose leaves numerous; stems short; reliable for heading, hardy, and a good keeper. The name "Large Late Drumhead"

includes varieties raised by several seedsmen in this country, all of which resemble each other in the above characteristics, and differ in but minor points. Have rows three feet apart, and plants from two and a half to three feet apart in the row.

~Marblehead Mammoth Drumhead.~ This is the largest of the cabbage family, having sometimes been grown to weigh over ninety pounds to the plant. It originated in Marblehead, Ma.s.s., being produced by Mr. Alley, probably from the Mason, by years of high cultivation and careful selection of seed stock. I introduced this cabbage and the Stone Mason to the general public many years ago, and it has been pretty thoroughly disseminated throughout the United States. Heads varying in shape between hemispherical and spherical, with but few waste leaves surrounding them; size very large, varying from fifteen to twenty inches in diameter, and, in some specimens, they have grown to the extraordinary dimensions of twenty-four inches. In good soil, and with the highest culture, this variety has attained an average weight of thirty pounds by the acre. Quality, when well grown, remarkably sweet and tender, as would be inferred from the rapidity of its growth.

Cultivate in rows four feet apart, and allow four feet between the plants in the rows. Sixty tons of this variety have been raised from a single acre.

~American Green Glazed.~ Heads loose, though rather large, with a great body of waste leaves surrounding them; quality poor; late; stump long.

This cabbage was readily distinguished among all the varieties in my experimental plot by the deep, rich green of the leaves, with their bright l.u.s.tre as though varnished. It is grown somewhat extensively in the South, as it is believed not to be so liable to injury from insects as other varieties. Plant two and a half feet apart each way. I would advise my Southern friends to try the merits of other kinds before adopting this poor affair. I know, through my correspondence, that the Mammoth has done well as far South as Louisiana and Cuba, and the Fottler, in many sections of the South, has given great satisfaction.

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~Fottler's Early Drumhead.~ Several years ago a Boston seedsman imported a lot of cabbage seed from Europe, under the name of Early Brunswick Short Stemmed. It proved to be a large heading and very early Drumhead.

The heads were from eight to eighteen inches in diameter nearly flat, hard, sweet, and tender in quality; few waste leaves; stump short. In earliness it was about a fortnight ahead of the Stone Mason. It was so much liked by the market gardeners that the next season he ordered a larger quant.i.ty; but the second importation, though ordered and sent under the same name, proved to be a different and inferior kind, and the same result followed one or two other importations. The two gardeners who received seed of the first importation brought to market a fine, large Drumhead, ten days or a fortnight ahead of their fellows. The seed of the true stock was eagerly bought up by the Boston market gardeners, most of it at _five dollars an ounce_. After an extensive trial on a large scale by the market farmers around Boston, and by farmers in various parts of the United States, Fottler's Cabbage has given great satisfaction, and become a universal favorite, and when once known it, and especially the improved strain of it, known as Deep Head, is fast replacing some of the old varieties of Drumhead. Very reliable for heading.

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~Vandergaw Cabbage.~ This new Long Island Cabbage must be cla.s.sed as A No. 1 for the midsummer and late market. It is as sure to head as the Succession, and has some excellent characteristics in common.

It makes large, green heads, hard, tender, and crisp. This is an acquisition.

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~The Warren Cabbage.~ This first-cla.s.s cabbage is closely allied to, but an improvement on, the old Mason Cabbage of twenty-five years ago. It makes a head deep, round, and very hard, the outer leaves wrapping it over very handsomely. In reliability for heading no cabbage surpa.s.ses it; a field of them when in their prime is as pretty a sight as a cabbage man would wish to see. It comes in as early as some strains of Fottler, and a little earlier than others. A capital sort to succeed the Early Summer. The heads being very thick through, and nearly round, make it an excellent sort to carry through the winter, as it "peels" well, as cabbage-growers say. Ten inches in diameter, in size it is just about right for profitable marketing. A capital sort, exceedingly popular among market-man in this vicinity.

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~Early Bleichfeld Cabbage.~ I find the Bleichfeld to be among the earliest of the large, hard-heading Drumheads, maturing earlier than the Fottler's Brunswick. The heads are large, very solid, tender when cooked, and of excellent flavor. The color is a lighter green than most varieties and it is as reliable for heading as any cabbage I have ever grown. The above engraving I have had made from a photograph of a specimen grown on my grounds.

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~Danish Drumhead Cabbage.~ In 1879, Mr. Edward Abelgoord wrote me from Canada, that he raised a large Drumhead Cabbage, the seed of which was brought from Denmark, which was the best kind of cabbage that he had seen in that lat.i.tude (46), being very valuable for the extreme North.

It was earlier than Fottler's Drumhead, and made large, flat heads, of excellent flavor, and was so reliable for heading. I raised a field of this new cabbage, and it proved a large, flat, early Drumhead, very reliable for heading.

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~The Reynolds Early Cabbage.~ In the year 1875, Mr. Franklin Reynolds, of this town, crossed the Cannon-Ball Cabbage on the Schweinfurt Quintal, by carefully transferring the pollen of the former on the latter, the stamens having first been removed, and immediately tying muslin around the impregnated blossoms to keep away all insects. The results were a few ripe seeds. These were carefully saved and planted the next season, when the product showed the characteristics of the two parents. The best heads were selected from the lot, and, from these, seeds were raised. Several selections were made of the choicest heads from year to year; and I now have the pleasure of introducing the results, _a new cabbage which combines the good qualities of both its parents_.

The flavor of this new cabbage is rich, tender, and sweet, being superior to the general Drumhead cla.s.s, making it a very superior variety for family use, and also for marketing when there is not a long transportation. None of the scores of varieties I have ever grown has a shorter stump than this; the heads appear to rest directly on the ground, and no one is surer to head.

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~All-Seasons Cabbage.~ This new cabbage is the result of a cross made by a Long Island gardener between the Flat Dutch and a variety of Drumhead.

The result is a remarkably large, early Drumhead, that matures close in time with the Early Summer, while it is from one third to one half larger. It is an excellent variety either as an early or late sort; the roundness of the head, leaving a thick, solid cabbage, should it become necessary, as is often the case with those marketed in the spring, to peel off the outer layer of leaves. Heads large in size, solid and tender, and rich flavored when cooked. It has already, in three years, verified the prophecy I made when sending it out, and become a standard variety in some localities.

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~Gregory's Hard-Heading Cabbage.~ I am not acquainted with any variety of cabbage (I believe I have raised about all the native and foreign varieties that have been catalogued) that makes so hard a head as does the "Hard-heading" when fully matured. Neither am I acquainted with any variety that is so late a keeper as is this; the German gardener, from whom I obtained it, said that it gave him, and his friends who had it, complete control of the Chicago market for about a fortnight after all other varieties had "played out." My own experience with it tends to confirm this statement, for under the same conditions it kept decidedly later than all my other varieties, was greener in color, and when planted out they were so late to push seed-shoots that I almost despaired of getting a crop of seed. I find, also, that they are much less inclined to burst than any of the hard-heading varieties. Heads grow to a good market size, are more globular than Flat Dutch; and, as might be presumed, of great weight in proportion to their size. The color is a peculiar green, rather more of an olive than most kinds of cabbage. About a fortnight later than Flat Dutch. For late fall, winter, and spring sales plant 3 by 3 the first of June.

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~Early Deep-Head Cabbage.~ This is a valuable improvement on the Fottler made by years of careful selection and high cultivation by Mr. Alley of Marblehead, a famous cabbage grower, who, as the name indicates, has produced a deeper, rounder heading variety than the original Fottler, thus making what that was not, an excellent sort for winter and spring marketing. It has all the excellent traits of its parent in reliability for making large, handsome heads.

~Bergen Drumhead.~ Heads round, rather flat on the top, solid; leaves stout, thick, and rather numerous; stump short. With me, under same cultivation, it is later than Stone Mason. It is tender and of good flavor. A popular sort in many sections, particularly in the markets of New York City. Have the plants three feet apart each way.

SAVOY CABBAGES.

The Savoys are the tenderest and richest-flavored of cabbages, though not always as sweet as a well-grown Stone Mason; nor is a Savoy grown on poor soil, or one that has been pinched by drouth, as tender as a Stone Mason that has been grown under favoring circ.u.mstances; yet it remains, as a rule, that the Savoy surpa.s.ses all other cabbages in tenderness, and in a rich, marrow-like flavor. The Savoys are also the hardiest of the cabbage tribe, enduring in the open field a temperature within sixteen degrees of zero without serious injury; and if the heads are not very hard they will continue to withstand repeated changes from freezing to thawing for a couple of months, as far north as the lat.i.tude of Boston. A degree of freezing improves them, and it is common in that lat.i.tude to let such as are intended for early winter use, in the family, remain standing in the open ground where they grew, cutting the heads as they are wanted.

As a rule Savoys neither head as readily (the "Improved American Savoy"

being an exception) nor do the heads grow as large as the Drumhead varieties; indeed, most of the kinds in cultivation are so unreliable in these respects as to be utterly worthless for market purposes, and nearly so for the kitchen garden.

~The Drumhead Savoy.~ This, as the name implies, is the result of a cross between a Savoy and a Drumhead cabbage, partaking of the characteristics of each. Many of the cabbages sold in the market as Savoy are really this variety. One variety in my experimental garden, which I received as TOUR'S SAVOY (evidently a Drumhead variety of the Savoy), proved to be much like Early Schweinfurt in earliness and style of heading; the heads were very large, but quite loose in structure; I should think it would prove valuable for family use.

It is a fact that does not appear to be generally known that we have among the Savoys some remarkably early sorts which rank with the earliest varieties of cabbage grown. Pancalier and Early Ulm Savoy are earlier than that old standard of earliness, Early York; Pancalier being somewhat earlier than Ulm.

~Pancalier~ is characterized by very coa.r.s.ely blistered leaves of the darkest-green color; the heads usually gather together, being the only exception I know of to the rule that cabbage heads are made up of overlapping leaves, wrapped closely together. It has a short stump, and with high cultivation is reliable for heading. The leaves nearest the head, though not forming a part of it, are quite tender, and may be cooked with the head. Plant fifteen by thirty inches.

~Early Ulm Savoy~ is a few days later than Pancalier, and makes a larger head; the leaves are of a lighter green and not so coa.r.s.ely blistered; stump short; head round; very reliable for heading. It has a capital characteristic in not being so liable as most varieties to burst the head and push the seed shoot immediately after the head is matured. For first early, I know no cabbages so desirable as these for the kitchen garden.

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The ~Early Dwarf Savoy~ is a desirable variety of second early. The heads are rather flat in shape, and grow to a fair size. Stumps short; reliable for heading.

~Improved American Savoy.~ Everything considered, this is the Savoy, "par excellence," for the market garden. It is a true Savoy, the heads grow to a large size, from six to ten inches in diameter, varying, of course, with soil, manure, and cultivation. In shape the heads are mostly globular, occasionally oblong, having but few waste leaves, and grow very solid. Stump short. In reliability for heading it is unsurpa.s.sed by any other cabbage.

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~Golden Savoy~ differs from other varieties in the color of the head, which rises from the body of light green leaves, of a singular pale yellow color, as though blanched. The stumps are long, and the head rather small, a portion of these growing pointed. It is very late, not worth cultivating, except as a curiosity.

~Norwegian Savoy.~ This is a singular half cabbage, half kale--at least, so it has proved under my cultivation. The leaves are long, narrow, ta.s.selated, and somewhat blistered. The whole appearance is very singular and rather ornamental. I have tried this cabbage twice, but have never got beyond the possible promise of a head.

~Victoria Savoy~, ~Russian Savoy~, and ~Cape Savoy~, tested in my experimental garden, did not prove desirable either for family use or for market purposes.

~Feather Stemmed Savoy.~ This is a cross between the Savoy and Brussels sprouts, having the habit of growth of Brussels sprouts.

OTHER VARIETIES OF CABBAGE.

I will add notes on some other varieties which have been tested, from year to year, in my experimental plot. The results from tests of different strains of standard sorts, I have not thought it worth the while to record.

~Cannon Ball.~ The heads are usually spherical, attaining to a diameter of from five to nine inches, with the surrounding leaves gathered rather closely around them; in hardness and relative weight it is excelled by but few varieties. Stump short. It delights in the highest cultivation possible. It is about a week later than Early York. In those markets where cabbages are sold by weight, it will pay to grow for market; it is a good cabbage for the family garden.