Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 219, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 September 1914 — DISEASES OF CABBAGE [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

DISEASES OF CABBAGE

INTERESTING EXPERIMENTS AT MARYLAND STATION. Early Varieties Do Beet on Soil Rich and Full of Humus, While Late Plants Thrive oh Sod Field Broken In Spring. In a bulletin of the Maryland experiment station, by C. P. Close and T. H. White, an account is given of cultural and variety tests of cabbage, together with the general directions for the culture and care of the crop. The authors being of the opinion that the susceptibility to rot and disease of cabbages growing on very rich, highly cultivated land is due more to something unsuitable in the soil rather than to the direct attacks of bacteria or fungi, a study was made to determine the effect of stable manure, of various chemical fertilizers, and of different cultural treatments, such as ridge planting, level planting, and proper drainage as correctives of the condition favoring the development of cabbage diseases. The experiments were conducted for three seasons on a piece of rather stiff clay land that has been manured and planted to truck crops for many years and upon which cabbage had previously rotted badly. The various treatments given failed to act as correctives of the supposed excessive salts or poisonous matter in the soil. Good cabbages, on the other hand, were grown on soils of the. same character and drainage conditions with the exception that the land had been in sod from which hay had bebn cut. It is concluded that whereas early cabbages do best on soils that are rich and full of humus, late cabbages generally do best on a sod field broken early in spring and well manured. The varieties tested are classed into three general types relative to their disease resistance. The disease-resist-ant stock all appeared to conform to one type of vigorous growth with green or purplish-green curled and

crinkled leaves. This type was found to be quite disease-resistant and hardy, remaining in the field throughout the winter and producing seed in the spring. Cabbages of the Savoy type were also fairly disease-resistant, standing conditions that usually destroyed cabbage of the ordinary flat Dutch type. The ball-headed varieties were most subject to disease. A comparative test of low-priced and high-priced fertilizers indicated that the former sometimes give as good results as the latter. It appears, however, that the same results cannot be expected from any particular brand of fertilizer under all conditions of soil and seasons. On the whole, the use of a fertilizer with a high nitrogen content is recommended. In raising late cabbage plants many growers are in the habit of using a piece of poor, light' soil for a seed bed, to which is applied a very liberal dressing of commercial fertilizers. This appears to produce toughened plants quite resistant to the checks from transplanting. Experiments were conducted for two years to determine a fertilizter suitable for this purpose. The results Indicate that it is profitable to use nitrate of soda on the plant beds at the rate of 450 to 600 pounds per acre.

Savoy Cabbage—Good Kind to Plant.