The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1915-03-25


The average yield is about twelve
and one-half tons, or one car load per
acre. The average price fer the 1913
crop was $lS per ton, yielding an in
come from the crop of $1,125,OOO. The
annual cash income is greater than that
from any other single crop in the two
counties.
Mr.. Iverson divides cabbage growers
into three classes: The erratic type.
constituting forty per cent Of all the
growers, are those who base their iudg-
ment on market conditions of the past
year rather than on a series of wears.
The second class are the fixed or steady
type representing fifty Per cent of the
growers, who grow about the same
quantity of cabbage each year. The
third is che variable type, about ten
per cent OF the whole number, who al
low the laws of supply and demand to
regulate the amount they grow.
Cool Regions Best.
.. Cool, semi-arid regions in Wisconsin
are recommended as best suited for
cabbage. A cool, somewhat dry sum
mer preceded by winter Of heavy
snowfall gives ideal climatic conditions
for cabbage season. A warm moist
climate makes the plants susceptible to
diseases, causing the disease fungi to
multiply rapidly. The soil which can
give up the greatest amount Of plant
food and moisture at steady rate
throughout the growing season is best
adapted for culture. Thus the muck
soils of Racine and Kenosha counties
approach this standard. Old marsh
soils are also good. Clay loans are not
so fertile. Drainage conditions are
very important. Standing water should
not remain near the surface. Wet soil
allows germs to develop and has other
disadvantages. Poor drainage impedes
spring planting Drainage enterprises
are retaining thousands of acres in
the two counties.
Great care in the selection of seeds
is prime essential. Pure bred types
have been developed by L. r. Jones, Of
the college of agriculture. From one
pound of good seed costing So to 81,
enough plants can be grown to trans
plant 4 to acres. The location Of the
seed bed should be governed by drain
age, richness Of the soil and CON
venience, and should be protected from
prevailing winds. The seed bed should
be plowed in the fall, and plowed quite
deeply. The soil in the seed bed should
be loose and the Jumps broken up.
Planting should be done about the first
week in May, using drills to SOW. A
mellow condition of the soil is the
ideal one. Transplanting should begin
about the first week in July.
Disease Great Handicap.
The cabbage industry has one great
handicap to an ideal development.
That is the prevalence of insect and
disease pests. The annual losses in the
region under discussion range, it is es-
timated, from $4,000 to $150,O0O.
Drainage water, stable manure, compost
heaps and wind are all responsible for
dissemination of disease among the
plants. A good preventive is a disin-
fecting solution composed Of forty per-
cent formaldehyde, one-fourth pint and
seven gallons of water. Perhaps the
best known cabbage disease, because
of it's predominance and difficulty in
Graduating is "yellows.' It thrives
on dead organic matter as well as on
living plant tissues. This disease has
threatened the ruin Of the entire cab
bage industry in Racine and Kenosha
counties. In 1910 the total loss is es-
timated at $4,000, and many grow
ers were driven out of business. RAINY
weather that year caused the plants to
become succulenG and susceptible to
disease.
Since 1914 the farmers of Racine and
Kenosha counties have taken up the
control of cabbage diseases as CO.
operative movement, and so long as
this spirit of mutual help is freely Civ
en- the largest progress will be made
in ascertaining the types best suited to
Wisconsin conditions.