Chapter 5

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 circumstances; yet it remains, as a rule, that the Savoy surpasses 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 latitude of Boston. A degree of freezing improves them, and it is common in that latitude 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 coarsely 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 coarsely 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.

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 unsurpassed by any other cabbage.

~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, tasselated, 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.

~Early Cone~, of the Wakefield class, but with me not as early.

~Garfield Pickling~, of late variety, of the conical class.

~Cardinal Red.~ A large, late variety of red; but on my grounds, it is not equal to Red Drumhead.

~Vilmorin's Early Flat Dutch.~ Not quite as large as Early Summer, though about as early and resembles it in shape of head.

~Royal German Drumhead.~ Reliable for heading.

~Large White Solid Magdeburg.~ A late Drumhead; short stumped; reliable for heading. Medium late.

~Pak Choi.~ Evidently of the Kale class; no heads.

~Chou de Burghlez~ and ~Chou de Milan~. These are coarse, loose, small heading varieties, allied to Kale. The latter is of the Savoy class.

~Earliest Erfurt Blood-Red.~ Decidedly the earliest of the red cabbages. Very reliable for heading. A Drumhead; smaller than Red Drumhead. Very dark red.

~Empress.~ Resembles Wyman in size and shape; but the heads are more pointed, and it makes head earlier. Heads well.

~Schlitzer.~ This makes heads mostly shaped like the Winnigstadt, but a third larger. Its mottling of green and purple gives it a striking appearance. Early and very reliable for heading. Heads are not very hard; but, when cooked, are just about as tender and rich-flavored as the Savoy. Promises to be an excellent sort for family use.

~Rothelburg.~ An early sure heading variety of the Drumhead class. Heads of medium size; resembling in shape Deep Head.

~Sure Head.~ A strain of Flat Dutch. A late variety; heads deeper than Fottler, but with me not so reliable.

~Dark Red Pointed.~ Resembles Winnigstadt in shape. About as late as Red Dutch, and not as desirable.

~Bacalan Late.~ In shape resembles Winnigstadt. Grow a little wild.

~Amack.~ A late variety. Heads generally nearly globular and quite hard. Very reliable for heading.

~Bangholm.~ First of all. As early as the earliest, but very small,--not as large as Little Pixie.

~Early Enfield Market.~

~Tourleville.~ Heads resemble Wakefield in form; but, with me, are neither so large nor so large, and are more inclined to burst.

~Danish Round Winter.~ A late variety; bearing deep, hard heads on long stumps.

~Dwarf Danish.~ Late. Reliable to head; uneven in time of heading. Worth planting for market.

~Danish Ball Drumhead.~ Heads not characterized by globular shape, but rather flattish. Irregular in length of stump.

~Early Paris.~ Closely resembles Wakefield.

~Very Early Etampes.~ Earlier than Wakefield. Shape partakes of both Oxheart and Wakefield.

~Early Mohawk.~ Light green in color; a good header, but not so hard heading as Fottler. Appears to have a little of the Savoy cross in it.

~Sure Head.~ A late variety of the Dutch class; reliable for heading; stump rather long.

~Excelsior.~ A variety which is of the Fottler class, but makes smaller sized heads.

~Louisville Drumhead.~ Of the flat Dutch type; nearly as early as Early Summer.

~Early Advance.~ Of the Wakefield type. With me it is full as early as Wakefield, and considerably larger. Rather coarser in structure.

~Market Garden.~ Of the Fottler class; very reliable for heading. Heads of good size, but rather coarser than the Deep Head.

~Chase's Excelsior.~ A second early; much like Fottler; heads finely.

~Bloomsdale Early Market.~ With me this is not as good a variety as Wakefield.

~Berkshire Beauty.~ There appear to be fine possibilities in this cabbage, which have not yet been developed into uniformity.

~Landredth's Extra Early.~ With me it does not prove as early as Wakefield, and does not head as well.

~Bridgeport Late Drumhead.~ A large Drumhead; in size, between Stone Mason and Marblehead Mammoth. Reliable for heading, but does not head as hard as either of these varieties. Not inclined to burst.

~Large French Oxheart~ closely resembles Early Oxheart, but grows to double the size, and is about ten days later; quality usually good.

~Early Sugar Loaf.~ Heads shaped much like a loaf of sugar standing on its smaller end, resembling, as Burr well says, a head of Cos lettuce in its shape, and in the peculiar clasping of the leaves about the head. Heads rather hard, medium size; early, and tender. It is said not to stand the heat as well as most sorts.

~Large Brunswick Short-Stemmed.~ (English seed.) Late, long-stumped, wild, plenty of leaves, almost no head; bears but a slight resemblance to Fottler's Drumhead.

~Early Empress.~ Cabbages well; heads conical; early.

~Robinson's Champion Ox Drumhead.~ Stump long; heads soft and not very large; wild.

~English Winnigstadt.~ Long-stumped; irregular; not to be compared with French stock.

~Blenheim.~ Early; heads mostly conical; of good size.

~Shillings Queen.~ Early; heads conical; stumps long.

~Carter's Superfine Early Dwarf.~ Surpasses in earliness and hardness of head. Closely allied to Little Pixie.

~Enfield Market Improved.~ Most of the heads were flat; rather wild; not to be compared with Fottler.

~Kemp's Incomparable.~ Long-headed; heads, when mature, do not appear to burst as readily as with most of the conical class.

~Fielderkraut.~ Closely resembles Winnigstadt, with larger and longer heads and stump; requires more room than Winnigstadt.

~Ramsay's Winter Drumhead.~ Closely resembles St. Dennis. I think it is the same.

~Pomeranian Cabbage.~ Heads very long; quite large for a conical heading sort; very symmetrical and hard; color, yellowish-green. It handles well, and I should think would prove a good keeper. Medium early.

~Alsacian Drumhead.~ Stump long; late; wild.

~Marbled Bourgogne.~ Stumps long; heads small and hard; color, a mixture of green and red.

CABBAGE GREENS.

In the vicinity of our large cities, the market gardeners sow large areas very thickly with cabbage seed, early in the spring, to raise young plants to be sold as greens. The seed is sown broadcast at the rate of ten pounds and upwards to the acre. Seed of the Savoy cabbage is usually sown for this purpose, which may be sometimes purchased at a discount, owing to some defect in quality or purity, that would render it worthless for planting for a crop of heading cabbage.

The young plants are cut off about even with the ground, when four or five inches high, washed, and carried to market in barrels or bushel boxes. The price varies with the state of the market, from 12 cents to $3 a barrel, the average price in Boston market being about a dollar. With the return of spring most families have some cabbage stumps remaining in the cellar; these can be planted about a foot apart in some handy spot along the edge of the garden, where they will not interfere with the general crop, setting them under ground from a quarter to a half their length, depending on the length of the stumps. They will soon be covered with green shoots, which should be used as greens before the blossom buds show themselves, as they then become too strong to be agreeable. If the spot is rich and has been well dug, the rapidity of growth is surprising; and if the shoots are frequently gathered, many nice messes of greens can be grown from a few stumps. Farmers in Northern Vermont tell me, that if they break off each seed shoot as soon as it shows itself, close home to the stump, nice little heads will push out on almost every stump. In England, where the winter climate is much milder than that of New England, it is the practice to raise a second crop of heads in this way. In my own neighborhood I have seen an acre from which a crop of drumhead cabbage had been cut off early in the season, every stump on which had from three to six hard heads, varying from the size of a hen's egg to that of a goose egg; but to get this second growth of heads, as much of the stump and leaves should be left as possible, when cutting out the original head. As in the cabbage districts of the North little or no use is made of this prolific after growth, it is worse than useless to suffer the ground to be exhausted by it; the stump should be pulled by the potato hoe as soon as the heads are marketed. When cabbages are planted out for seed, if, for any reason, the seed shoot fails to push out, and at times when it does push out, fine sprouts for greens will start below the head; when the stock of these sprouts becomes too tough for use, the large leaves may be stripped from them and cooked. I usually break off the tender tops of large sprouts, and then strip off the tenderest of the large leaves below.

CABBAGE FOR STOCK.

No vegetable raised in the temperate zone, Mangold Wurtzel alone excepted, will produce as much food to the acre, both for man and beast, as the cabbage. I have seen acres of the Marblehead Mammoth drumhead which would average thirty pounds to each cabbage, some specimens weighing over sixty pounds. The plants were four feet apart each way which would give a product of over forty tons to the acre; and I have tested a crop of Fottler's that yielded thirty tons of green food to the half acre. Other vegetables are at times raised for cattle feed, such as potatoes, carrots, ruta bagas, mangold wurtzels; a crop of potatoes yielding four hundred bushels to the acre at sixty pounds the bushel would weigh twelve tons; a crop of carrot yielding twelve hundred bushels to the acre would weigh thirty tons; ruta bagas sometimes yield thirty tons; and mangolds as high as seventy tons to the acre. I have set all these crops at a high capacity for fodder purposes; the same favoring conditions of soil, manure, and cultivation that would produce four hundred bushels of potatoes, twelve hundred bushels of carrots, and thirty-five tons of ruta baga turnips, would give a crop of forty tons of the largest variety of drumhead cabbage. If we now consider the comparative merits of these crops for nutriment, we find that the cabbage excels them all in this department also. The potatoes abound in starch, the mangold and carrot are largely composed of water, while the cabbage abounds in rich, nitrogeneous food.

Prof. Stewart states that cabbage for milch cows has about the same feeding value as sweet corn ensilage, and makes the value not over $3.40 per ton. Now it is admitted by general current that the value of common ensilage, which is inferior to that made from sweet corn, is, when compared with good English hay, as 3 to 1. This would make cabbages for milch cows worth not far from $7.00 per ton.

When cabbage is kept for stock feed later than the first severe frost, if the quantity is large there is considerable waste even with the best of care. The loose leaves should be fed first, and the heads kept in a cool place, not more than two or three deep, at as near the freezing point as possible. If it has been necessary to cut the heads from the stumps, they may be piled, after the weather has set in decidedly cold, conveniently near the barn, and kept covered with a foot of straw or old litter. As long as a cabbage is kept frozen there is no waste to it; but if it be allowed to freeze and thaw two or three times, it will soon rot with an awful stench. I suspect that it is this rotten portion of the cabbage that often gives the bad flavor to milk. On the other hand, if it is kept in too warm and dry a place, the outer leaves will dry, turning yellow, and the whole head lose in weight,--if it be not very hard, shrivelling, and, if hard, shrinking. If they are kept in too warm and wet a place, the heads will decay fast, in a black, soft rot. The best way to preserve cabbages for stock into the winter, is to place them in trenches a few inches below the surface, and there cover with from a foot to two feet of coarse hay or straw, the depth depending on the coldness of the locality. When the ground has been frozen too hard to open with a plough or spade, I have kept them until spring by piling them loosely, hay-stack shape, about four feet high, letting the frost strike through them, and afterwards covering with a couple of feet of eel-grass; straw or coarse hay would doubtless do as well.

I have treated of cabbage thus far when grown specially for stock; in every piece of cabbage handled for market purposes, there is a large proportion of waste suitable for stock feed, which includes the outside leaves and such heads as have not hardened up sufficiently for market. On walking over a piece just after my cabbages for seed stock have been taken off, I note that the refuse leaves that were stripped from the heads before pulling are so abundant they nearly cover the ground. If leaves so stripped remain exposed to frost, they soon spoil; or, if earlier in the season they are exposed to the sun, they soon become yellow, dry, and of but little value. They can be rapidly collected with a hay fork and carted, if there be but a few, into the barn; should there be a large quantity, dump them within a convenient distance of the barn or feeding ground, but not where the cattle can trample them, and spread them so that they will be but a few inches in depth. If piled in heaps they will quickly heat; but even then, if not too much decayed, cattle will eat them with avidity. Cabbages are hardy plants, and loose heads will stand a good deal of freezing and thawing without serious injury. They are not generally injured with the thermometer 16° below freezing. The waste, after the seed and all market cabbage are removed, brings me about $10 per acre on the ground, for cow feed.

If cabbage is fed to cows in milk without some care, it will be apt to give the milk a strong cabbage flavor; all the feed for the day should be given early in the morning. Beginning with a small quantity, and gradually increasing it, the dairy man will soon learn his limits. The effect of a liberal feed to milk stock is to largely increase the flow of milk. Avoid feeding to any extent while the leaves are frozen.

An English writer says: "The cabbage comes into use when other things begin to fail, and it is by far the best succulent vegetable for milking cows,--keeping up the yield of milk, and preserving, better than any other food, some portion of the quality which cheese loses when the cows quit their natural pasturage. Cows fed on cabbages are always quiet and satisfied, while on turnips they often scour and are restless. When frosted, they are liable to produce hoven, unless kept in a warm shed to thaw before being used; fifty-six pounds given, at two meals, are as much as a large cow should have in a day. Frequent cases of abortion are caused by an over-supply of green food. Cabbages are excellent for young animals, keeping them in health, and preventing 'black leg.' A calf of seven months may have twenty pounds a day."

RAISING CABBAGE SEED.

Cabbage seed in England, particularly of the drumhead sorts, is mostly raised from stumps, or from the refuse that remains after all that is salable has been disposed of. The agent of one of the largest English seed houses, a few years since, laughed at my "wastefulness," as he termed it, in raising seed from solid heads. In our country, cabbage seed is mostly raised from soft, half-formed heads, which are grown as a late crop, few, if any of them, being hard enough to be of any value in the market. Seedsmen practise selecting a few fine, hard heads, from which to raise their seed stock. It has been my practice to grow seed from none but extra fine heads, better than the average of those carried to market. I do this on the theory that no cabbage can be too good for a seedhead, if the design is to keep the stock first-class. Perhaps such strictness may not be necessary; but I had rather err in setting out too good heads than too poor ones; besides, the great hardness obtained by the heads of the Stone Mason, makes it possible, at least, that I am right. Cabbage raised from seed grown from stumps are apt to be unreliable for heading, and to grow long-stumped, though under unfavorable conditions, long-stumped and poor-headed cabbage may grow from the best of seed. To have the best of seed, all shoots that start below the head should be broken off. To prevent the plants falling over after the seed-stalks are grown, dig deep holes, and plant the entire stump in the ground. Scarecrows should be set up, or some like precaution be taken, to keep away the little seed-birds, that begin to crack the pods as soon as they commence to ripen. A plaster cat is a very good scarecrow to frighten away birds from seed and small fruits, if its location is changed every few days.

I find that the pods of cabbage seed grown South are tough, and not brittle, like those grown North, and hence that they are injured but little, if any, by seed birds. When the seed-pods have passed what seedsmen call their "red" stage, they begin to harden; as soon as a third of them are brown, the entire stalk may be cut and hung up in a dry, airy place, for a few days, when the seed will be ready for rubbing or threshing out. Different varieties should be raised far apart to insure purity; and cabbage seed had better not be raised in the vicinity of turnip seed. There is some difference of opinion as to the effect of growing these near each other; where the two vegetables blossom at the same time, I should fear an admixture. When the care requisite to select good seed stock, and the trouble, and, often, great loss, in keeping it over winter, planting it in isolated locations, protecting it from wind and weather, guarding it from injury from birds and other enemies, gathering it, cleaning it, are all considered, few men will find that they can afford to raise their own seed, provided they can buy it from reliable seedsmen.

COOKING CABBAGE, SOUR-KROUT, ETC.

Cabbage when boiled with salt pork, as it is mostly used, is the food for strong and healthy digestive powers; but when eaten in its raw state, served with vinegar and pepper, it is considered one of the most easily digested articles of diet. In the process of cooking, even with the greatest care, a large portion of the sweetness is lost. The length of time required to cook cabbage by boiling varies with the quality, those of the best quality requiring about twenty minutes, while others require an hour. In cooking put it into boiling water in which a little salt and soda has been sprinkled, which will tend to preserve the natural green color. It will be well to change the water once. The peculiar aroma given out by cabbage when cooking is thought to depend somewhat on the manner in which it is grown; those having been raised with the least rank manure having the least. I think this is one of the whims of the community. By using some varieties of boilers all steam is carried into the fire, and there is no smell in the house.