Soil Culture: Containing a Comprehensive View of Agriculture, Horticulture, Pomology, Domestic Animals, Rural Economy, and Agricultural LiteratureWalden, J. H.
Science
Soil Culture: Containing a Comprehensive View of Agriculture, Horticulture, Pomology, Domestic Animals, Rural Economy, and Agricultural Literature
Walden, J. H.
Agriculture -- Handbooks, manuals, etc.
A Dutch cabbage, with a short stem 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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account