Vegetable growing . common use. Only extremely early strains are satisfactoryfor securing an early product. Culture.—Cabbage is a cool weather plant. Consequentlyit must be planted early. The young plants are started inthe hot-bed, the seed being sown the first of March in potsor flats. Since early cabbage plants are easily transplanted,some] prefer to grow them in the hot-bed soil, pull themlooseafter thorough watering, and set them in the gardenwhere they are to grow. By shearing back the leaves trans- EARLY CABBAGE 293 piration of moisture is checked and the plant finally over-comes the sho
Vegetable growing . common use. Only extremely early strains are satisfactoryfor securing an early product. Culture.—Cabbage is a cool weather plant. Consequentlyit must be planted early. The young plants are started inthe hot-bed, the seed being sown the first of March in potsor flats. Since early cabbage plants are easily transplanted,some] prefer to grow them in the hot-bed soil, pull themlooseafter thorough watering, and set them in the gardenwhere they are to grow. By shearing back the leaves trans- EARLY CABBAGE 293 piration of moisture is checked and the plant finally over-comes the shock brought about by the change. Whengrown in pots or dirt bands, the cabbage plant receives noshock at transplanting time, and begins growing at oncein its new en\ironment. The plants are always thoroughlyhardened off before setting them in the open ground. Thedistance between plants is 16 to 24 inches and the rows18 inches to 3 feet apart. Early cabbage is often grown asa companion crop with lettuce and Fig. 139.—Charleston Wakefield cabbage is a standard early variety havinga pointed head. (The Country Gentleman.) Frequent tillage is essential to produce a good crop ofcabbage. Hand hoeing is often required. The plant demandslarge amounts of moisture which is conserved largely bythorough cultivation. With good culture and fa^^orable weather, the crop shouldbe matured in the home garden by at least July 1 and some-times several days preceding this date. If cabbage wormsattack the crop after heading has begun, they can be con-trolled by sprinkling air-slaked lime on the plants whenthey are wet. 294 CROPS USUALLY STARTED IN THE HOT-BED EARLY CAULIFLOWER. Cauliflower is closely related to the cabbage and is similarto it, except that the immature flower head is used for foodinstead of the head made up of blanched leaves. Caulifloweris more sensitive to its environmental surroundings thancabbage; too cold, warm, or dry weather will prevent theformation of heads. It th
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