If a piece of land is planted with seed grown from two heads of cabbage the product will bear a striking resemblance to the two parent cabbages, with a third variety which will combine the characteristics of these two, yet the resemblance will be somewhat modified at times by a little more manure, a little higher culture, a little better location, and the addition of an individuality that particular vegetables occasionally take upon themselves which we designate by the word "sport." The "sports" when they occur are fixed and perpetuated with remarkable readiness in the cabbage family, as is proved by a great number of varieties in cultivation, which are the numerous progeny of one ancestor. The catalogues of the English and French seedsmen contain long lists of varieties, many of which (and this is especially true of the early kinds) are either the same variety under a different name or are different "strains" of the same variety produced by the careful selections of prominent market gardeners through a series of years.

Every season I experiment with foreign and American varieties of cabbage to learn the characteristics of the different kinds, their comparative earliness, size, shape, and hardness of head, length of stump, and such other facts as would prove of value to market gardeners. There is one fact that every careful experimenter soon learns, that one season will not teach all that can be known relative to a variety, and that a number of specimens of each kind must be raised to enable one to make a fair comparison. It is amusing to read the dicta which appear in the agricultural press from those who have made but a single experiment with some vegetable; they proclaim more after a single trial than a cautious experimenter would dare to declare after years spent in careful observation. The year 1869 I raised over sixty varieties of cabbage, importing nearly complete suites of those advertised by the leading English and French seed houses, and collecting the principal kinds raised in this country. In the year 1888, I grew eighty-five different varieties and strains of cabbages and cauliflowers. I do not propose describing all these in this treatise or their comparative merits; of some of them I have yet something to learn, but I will endeavor to introduce with my description such notes as I think will prove of value to my fellow farmers and market gardeners.

I will here say in general of the class of early cabbages, that most of them have elongated heads between ovoid and conical in form. They appear to lack in this country the sweetness and tenderness that characterize some varieties of our drumhead, and, consequently, in the North when the drumhead enters the market there is but a limited call for them.

It may be well here to note a fundamental distinction between the drumhead cabbage of England and those of this country. In England the drumhead class are almost wholly raised to feed to stock. I venture the conjecture that owing in part, or principally, to the fact European gardeners have never had the motive, and, consequently, have never developed the full capacity of the drumhead as exampled by the fine varieties raised in this country. The securing of sorts reliable for heading being with them a matter of secondary consideration, seed is raised from stumps or any refuse heads that may be standing when spring comes round. For this reason English drumhead cabbage seed is better suited to raise a mass of leaves than heads, and always disappoints our American farmers who buy it because it is cheap with the expectation of raising cabbage for market. English-grown drumhead cabbage seed is utterly worthless for use in this country except to raise greens or collards.

The following are foreign varieties that are accepted in this country as standards, and for years have been more or less extensively cultivated: Early York, Early Oxheart, Early Winnigstadt, Red Dutch, Red Drumhead. In my experience as a seed dealer, the Sugar Loaf and Oxheart are losing ground in the farming community, the Early Jersey Wakefield having, to a large extent, replaced them.

Early York. Heads nearly ovoid, rather soft, with few waste leaves surrounding them, which are of a bright green color. Reliable for heading. Stump rather short. Plant two feet by eighteen inches. This cabbage has been cultivated in England over a hundred years. Little Pixie with me is earlier than Early York, as reliable for heading, heads much harder, and is of better flavor; the heads do not grow quite as large.

Early Oxheart. Heads nearly egg-shaped, small, hard, few waste leaves, stumps short. A little later than Early York. Have the rows two feet apart, and the plants eighteen inches apart in the row.

Early Winnigstadt. (A German cabbage.) Heads nearly conical in shape, having usually a twist of leaf at the top; larger than Oxheart, are harder than any of the early oblong heading cabbages; stumps middling short. Matures about ten days later than Early York. The Winnigstadt is remarkably reliable for heading, being not excelled in this respect when the seed has been raised with care, by any cabbage grown. It is a capital sort for early market outside our large cities, where the very early kinds are not so eagerly craved. It is so reliable for heading, that it will often make fine heads where other sorts fail; and I would advise all who have not succeeded in their efforts to grow cabbage, to try this before giving up their attempts. It is raised by some for winter use, and where the drumheads are not so successfully raised, I would advise my farmer friends to try the Winnigstadt, as the heads are so hard that they keep without much waste. Have rows two feet apart, and plant twenty inches to two feet apart in the rows.

Red Dutch. Heads nearly conical, medium sized, hard, of a very deep red; outer leaves numerous, and not so red as the head, being somewhat mixed with green; stump rather long. This cabbage is usually planted too late; it requires nearly the whole season to mature. It is used for pickling, or cut up fine as a salad, served with vinegar and pepper. This is a very tender cabbage, and, were it not for its color, would be an excellent sort to boil; to those who have a mind to eat it with their eyes shut, this objection will not apply.

Red Drumhead. Like the preceding, with the exception that the heads grow round, or nearly so, are harder, and of double the size. It is very difficult to raise seed from this cabbage in this country. I am acquainted with five trials, made in as many different years, two of which I made myself, and all were nearly utter failures, the yield, when the hardest heads were selected, being at about the rate of two great spoonfuls of seed from every twenty cabbages. French seed-growers are more successful, otherwise this seed would have to sell at a far higher figure in the market than any other sort.

The Little Pixie has much to recommend it, in earliness, quality, reliability for heading, and hardness of the head; earlier than Early York, though somewhat smaller.

Among those that deserve to be heartily welcomed and grow in favor, are the Early Ulm Savoy (for engraving and description of which see under head of Savoy), and the St. Dennis Drumhead, a late, short-stumped sort, setting a large, round, very solid head, as large, but harder, than Premium Flat Dutch. The leaves are of a bluish-green, and thicker than those of most varieties of drumhead. Our brethren in Canada think highly of this cabbage, and if we want to try a new drumhead, I will speak a good word for this one.

Early Schweinfurt, or Schweinfurt Quintal, is an excellent early drumhead for family use; the heads range in size from ten to eighteen inches in diameter, varying with the conditions of cultivation more than any other cabbage I am acquainted with. They are flattish round, weigh from three to nine pounds when well grown, are very symmetrical in shape, standing apart from the surrounding leaves. They are not solid, though they have the finished appearance that solidity gives; they are remarkably tender, as though blanched, and of very fine flavor. It is among the earliest of drumheads, maturing at about the same time as the Early Winnigstadt. As an early drumhead for the family garden, it has no superior; and where the market is near, and does not insist that a cabbage head must be hard to be good, it has proved a very profitable market sort.

The following are either already standard American varieties of cabbage, or such as are likely soon to become so; very possibly there are two or three other varieties or strains that deserve to be included in the list. I give all that have proved to be first class in my locality: Early Wakefield, Early Wyman, Early Summer, All Seasons, Hard Heading, Succession, Warren, Vandergaw, Peerless, Newark, Flat Dutch, Premium Flat Dutch, Stone Mason, Large Late Drumhead, Marblehead Mammoth Drumhead, American Green Glazed, Fottler's Drumhead, Bergen Drumhead, Drumhead Savoy, and American Green Globe Savoy. All of these varieties, as I have previously stated, are but improvements of foreign kinds; but they are so far improved through years of careful selection and cultivation, that, as a rule, they appear quite distinct from the originals when grown side by side with them, and this distinction is more or less recognized, in both English and American catalogues, by the adjective "American" or "English" being added after varieties bearing the same name.

Early Wakefield, sometimes called Early Jersey Wakefield. Heads mostly nearly conical in shape but sometimes nearly round, of good size for early, very reliable for heading; stumps short. A very popular early cabbage in the markets of Boston and New York. Plant two and a half feet by two feet. There are two strains of this cabbage, one a little later and larger than the other.

Early Wyman. This cabbage is named after Capt. Wyman, of Cambridge, the originator. Like Early Wakefield the heads are usually somewhat conical, but sometimes nearly round; in structure they are compact. In earliness it ranks about with the Early Wakefield, and making heads of double the size, it has a high value as an early cabbage. Capt. Wyman had entire control of this cabbage until within the past few years, and, consequently, has held Boston Market in his own hands, to the chagrin of his fellow market gardeners, raising some seasons as many as thirty thousand heads. Have the rows from two to two and a half feet apart, and the plants from twenty to twenty-four inches apart in the row. Crane's Early is a cross between the Wyman and Wakefield, intermediate in size and earliness.

Premium Flat Dutch. Large, late variety; heads either round or flat, on the top (varying with different strains); rather hard; color bluish green; leaves around heads rather numerous; towards the close of the season, the edge of some of the exterior leaves and the top of the heads assume a purple cast. The edges of the exterior leaves, and of the two or three that make the outside of the head, are quite ruffled, so that when grown side by side with Stone Mason, this distinction between the habit of growth of the two varieties is noticeable at quite a distance. Stumps short; reliable for heading. Have the rows three feet apart, and the plants from two and a half to three feet apart in the rows. This cabbage is very widely cultivated, and, in many respects, is an excellent sort to raise for late marketing. There are several strains of it catalogued by different seedsmen under various names, such as Sure Head, &c.

Stone Mason. An improvement on the Mason, which cabbage was selected by Mr. John Mason of Marblehead, from a number of varieties of cabbage that came from a lot of seed purchased and planted as Savoys. Mr. John Stone afterwards improved upon the Mason cabbage, by increasing the size of the heads. Different growers differ in their standard of a Stone Mason cabbage, in earliness and lateness, and in the size, form, and hardness of the head. But all these varieties agree in the characteristics of being very reliable for heading, in having heads which are large, very hard, very tender, rich and sweet; short stumps, and few waste leaves. The color of the leaves varies from a bluish green to a pea-green, and the structure from nearly smooth to much blistered. In their color and blistering some specimens have almost a Savoy cast. The heads of the best varieties of Stone Mason range in weight from six to twenty-five pounds, the difference turning mostly on soil, manure, and cultivation.

The Stone Mason is an earlier cabbage than Premium Flat Dutch, has fewer waste leaves, and side by side, under high cultivation, grows to an equal or larger size, while it makes heads that are decidedly harder and sweeter. These cabbages are equally reliable for heading. I am inclined to the opinion that under poor cultivation the Premium Flat Dutch will do somewhat better than the Stone Mason.

Until the introduction of Fottler's Drumhead it was the standard drumhead cabbage in the markets of Boston and other large cities of the North. Have the rows three feet apart, and the plants from two to three feet apart in the row.

Large Late Drumhead. Heads large, round, sometimes flattened at the top, close and firm; loose leaves numerous; stems short; reliable for heading, hardy, and a good keeper. The name "Large Late Drumhead" includes varieties raised by several seedsmen in this country, all of which resemble each other in the above characteristics, and differ in but minor points. Have rows three feet apart, and plants from two and a half to three feet apart in the row.

Marblehead Mammoth Drumhead. This is the largest of the cabbage family, having sometimes been grown to weigh over ninety pounds to the plant. It originated in Marblehead, Mass., being produced by Mr. Alley, probably from the Mason, by years of high cultivation and careful selection of seed stock. I introduced this cabbage and the Stone Mason to the general public many years ago, and it has been pretty thoroughly disseminated throughout the United States. Heads varying in shape between hemispherical and spherical, with but few waste leaves surrounding them; size very large, varying from fifteen to twenty inches in diameter, and, in some specimens, they have grown to the extraordinary dimensions of twenty-four inches. In good soil, and with the highest culture, this variety has attained an average weight of thirty pounds by the acre. Quality, when well grown, remarkably sweet and tender, as would be inferred from the rapidity of its growth. Cultivate in rows four feet apart, and allow four feet between the plants in the rows. Sixty tons of this variety have been raised from a single acre.

American Green Glazed. Heads loose, though rather large, with a great body of waste leaves surrounding them; quality poor; late; stump long. This cabbage was readily distinguished among all the varieties in my experimental plot by the deep, rich green of the leaves, with their bright lustre as though varnished. It is grown somewhat extensively in the South, as it is believed not to be so liable to injury from insects as other varieties. Plant two and a half feet apart each way. I would advise my Southern friends to try the merits of other kinds before adopting this poor affair. I know, through my correspondence, that the Mammoth has done well as far South as Louisiana and Cuba, and the Fottler, in many sections of the South, has given great satisfaction.

Fottler's Early Drumhead. Several years ago a Boston seedsman imported a lot of cabbage seed from Europe, under the name of Early Brunswick Short Stemmed. It proved to be a large heading and very early Drumhead. The heads were from eight to eighteen inches in diameter nearly flat, hard, sweet, and tender in quality; few waste leaves; stump short. In earliness it was about a fortnight ahead of the Stone Mason. It was so much liked by the market gardeners that the next season he ordered a larger quantity; but the second importation, though ordered and sent under the same name, proved to be a different and inferior kind, and the same result followed one or two other importations. The two gardeners who received seed of the first importation brought to market a fine, large Drumhead, ten days or a fortnight ahead of their fellows. The seed of the true stock was eagerly bought up by the Boston market gardeners, most of it at five dollars an ounce. After an extensive trial on a large scale by the market farmers around Boston, and by farmers in various parts of the United States, Fottler's Cabbage has given great satisfaction, and become a universal favorite, and when once known it, and especially the improved strain of it, known as Deep Head, is fast replacing some of the old varieties of Drumhead. Very reliable for heading.

Vandergaw Cabbage. This new Long Island Cabbage must be classed as A No. 1 for the midsummer and late market. It is as sure to head as the Succession, and has some excellent characteristics in common.

It makes large, green heads, hard, tender, and crisp. This is an acquisition.

The Warren Cabbage. This first-class cabbage is closely allied to, but an improvement on, the old Mason Cabbage of twenty-five years ago. It makes a head deep, round, and very hard, the outer leaves wrapping it over very handsomely. In reliability for heading no cabbage surpasses it; a field of them when in their prime is as pretty a sight as a cabbage man would wish to see. It comes in as early as some strains of Fottler, and a little earlier than others. A capital sort to succeed the Early Summer. The heads being very thick through, and nearly round, make it an excellent sort to carry through the winter, as it "peels" well, as cabbage-growers say. Ten inches in diameter, in size it is just about right for profitable marketing. A capital sort, exceedingly popular among market-man in this vicinity.

Early Bleichfeld Cabbage. I find the Bleichfeld to be among the earliest of the large, hard-heading Drumheads, maturing earlier than the Fottler's Brunswick. The heads are large, very solid, tender when cooked, and of excellent flavor. The color is a lighter green than most varieties and it is as reliable for heading as any cabbage I have ever grown. The above engraving I have had made from a photograph of a specimen grown on my grounds.

Danish Drumhead Cabbage. In 1879, Mr. Edward Abelgoord wrote me from Canada, that he raised a large Drumhead Cabbage, the seed of which was brought from Denmark, which was the best kind of cabbage that he had seen in that latitude (46°), being very valuable for the extreme North. It was earlier than Fottler's Drumhead, and made large, flat heads, of excellent flavor, and was so reliable for heading. I raised a field of this new cabbage, and it proved a large, flat, early Drumhead, very reliable for heading.

The Reynolds Early Cabbage. In the year 1875, Mr. Franklin Reynolds, of this town, crossed the Cannon-Ball Cabbage on the Schweinfurt Quintal, by carefully transferring the pollen of the former on the latter, the stamens having first been removed, and immediately tying muslin around the impregnated blossoms to keep away all insects. The results were a few ripe seeds. These were carefully saved and planted the next season, when the product showed the characteristics of the two parents. The best heads were selected from the lot, and, from these, seeds were raised. Several selections were made of the choicest heads from year to year; and I now have the pleasure of introducing the results, a new cabbage which combines the good qualities of both its parents.

The flavor of this new cabbage is rich, tender, and sweet, being superior to the general Drumhead class, making it a very superior variety for family use, and also for marketing when there is not a long transportation. None of the scores of varieties I have ever grown has a shorter stump than this; the heads appear to rest directly on the ground, and no one is surer to head.

All-Seasons Cabbage. This new cabbage is the result of a cross made by a Long Island gardener between the Flat Dutch and a variety of Drumhead. The result is a remarkably large, early Drumhead, that matures close in time with the Early Summer, while it is from one third to one half larger. It is an excellent variety either as an early or late sort; the roundness of the head, leaving a thick, solid cabbage, should it become necessary, as is often the case with those marketed in the spring, to peel off the outer layer of leaves. Heads large in size, solid and tender, and rich flavored when cooked. It has already, in three years, verified the prophecy I made when sending it out, and become a standard variety in some localities.

Gregory's Hard-Heading Cabbage. I am not acquainted with any variety of cabbage (I believe I have raised about all the native and foreign varieties that have been catalogued) that makes so hard a head as does the "Hard-heading" when fully matured. Neither am I acquainted with any variety that is so late a keeper as is this; the German gardener, from whom I obtained it, said that it gave him, and his friends who had it, complete control of the Chicago market for about a fortnight after all other varieties had "played out." My own experience with it tends to confirm this statement, for under the same conditions it kept decidedly later than all my other varieties, was greener in color, and when planted out they were so late to push seed-shoots that I almost despaired of getting a crop of seed. I find, also, that they are much less inclined to burst than any of the hard-heading varieties. Heads grow to a good market size, are more globular than Flat Dutch; and, as might be presumed, of great weight in proportion to their size. The color is a peculiar green, rather more of an olive than most kinds of cabbage. About a fortnight later than Flat Dutch. For late fall, winter, and spring sales plant 3 by 3 the first of June.

Early Deep-Head Cabbage. This is a valuable improvement on the Fottler made by years of careful selection and high cultivation by Mr. Alley of Marblehead, a famous cabbage grower, who, as the name indicates, has produced a deeper, rounder heading variety than the original Fottler, thus making what that was not, an excellent sort for winter and spring marketing. It has all the excellent traits of its parent in reliability for making large, handsome heads.

Bergen Drumhead. Heads round, rather flat on the top, solid; leaves stout, thick, and rather numerous; stump short. With me, under same cultivation, it is later than Stone Mason. It is tender and of good flavor. A popular sort in many sections, particularly in the markets of New York City. Have the plants three feet apart each way.