The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1884-04-04
Early t.abbae,es.

Early Cabbases.
Some cabbage growers SOW the seed
Tor early plants in the fall and when
he plants are large enough transplant
them to cold frames in which they are
wintered. For several reasons 1 COM
slider spring sowing the best, and it
will recommend itself to the farmer
who will not care to attend to the
plants during the winter. In spring
sowing the seed may be sown in boxes
in the house. in a cold frame or in q
hot-bed. The last plan is best. To
start the plants in the house fill shall
low box with fine, rich garden mold to
the depth OF six inches. In this sow
the seed and cover lightly. Keep the
soil moist. If the middle of the day is
warm set the box in the sunshine by
some window. have grown cabbage
plants in this way for several years
and have found it to be a good plan
when only small number were to be
started. But when any considerable
number is to be raised, and / am not
certain but that when only small
number is to be started. it is better to
make hot-bed. l find that it is a
general impression among farmers that
| the construction of hot-bed is
troublesome and expensive. This is a
false notion. The expense, cash, is
for sash and few panes of glass.
All the work can be done in half a
day by one man. The best form of the
hot-bed is made by digging hole two
feet deep and of the same width and
length as the frame. This hole is filled
with horse manure. The manure should
be hauled few days before and put in
neap near the pit, and fOrked over
each day. After lew days the manure
is put in the pit and the frame set on.
This should be twelve inches high in
the rear and eight inches high in front
with the side pieces properly sloped. 1t
can be made of old, waste boards. Fill
garden mold in the frame to the depth
of four or five inches, and put on the
sash. The back of the frame should be
toward the north and the front toward
the south that the rays of the sun may
strike the glass more nearly vertically,
and that the higher back may ward off
the cold winds that come from the
north. For a few days the heat will be
too great to allow of the planting of the
seeds, and the sash should be raised a
couple of inches. After the heat has
moderated to sixty or seventy degrees
the seed may be sown. Shade the sash
till the plants appear above the surface.
Close the sash at night. Give water as
needed and keep the soil from getting
too hard by occasional light STRINGS be-
tween the rows, which should be about
six inches apart.
Instead of digging pit some make
tie frame higher and put manure on
top of the ground. This plan saves the
labor of digging the pit but the hot-bed
thus made is not quite SO good. 1t will
require more frequent waterings than
the other.
A cold frame is simply a hot-bed
minus the manure. The latter gets its
heat from the fermentation of the ma
nure; the former from the sun only.
The cold frame must be covered with
carpets or cloths at night to prevent the
heat from escaping.
Care must be taken TO harden the hot
bed plants before they are transpianted
to the open ground. This may be done
by gradually removing the sash from
the hot-bed during the day; or by first
transplanting to . cold frame.
Cabbage is hardy plant and may be
put in the open ground as soon as the
frost is out and the ground is dry. If a
cold snap should come, cover slightly
with some, convenient material. Of
course this applies to plants which have
been hardened. Such plants will not be
injured by even eight or ten degrees of
frost. Whenever oats can be sown
cabbage may be planted in the open
ground.
A sandy soil is necessary. 1t is al
ways dryest and can be stirred earliest
in the spring. The cabbage does best
on sandy loan, with a sandy or grav-
ely subsoil coming rather near the sur
face. Such soil will drain well natural
ly, especially if on high and rolling
lands, but even then it is best to under
drain. Heavy, wet, clayey soils should
be avoided, as should also poor ones.
Cabbage requires rich soil. Each
year the ground for cabbage should be
covered with fine stable manure Ga mix
ture of equal parts from the cow and
horse stables is the best) to the depth
of two inches, and then plowed under.
Then pulverize the ground well. If the
ground is plOwed in the fall it is better,
as the frost pulverizes the ground and
destroys many eggs and larvae which
are thrown upon the surface. If any
quantity are to be raised it is best to
plant about fifteen inches apart in rows
far enough apart to admit of cultivation
with one-horse cultivator. But if on
ly enough are to be raised for the con-
sumption of the farmers family they
may be put only fifteen inches apart
each way, as the cultivation can best be
done with hoe. Ten days after set
ting out the plants should be hoed. and
thereafter hoed or cultivated frequent
ly until maturity. No plant is more