The Field and Garden Vegetables of America Part 67

PALATINE. _Vil._

Brown Cabbage.

A variety of medium size, with a round, somewhat depressed head, stained with red about the top. The foliage is yellowish-green, strongly marked or clouded with brownish-red. Extreme diameter of the plant ten or eleven inches; weight about twelve ounces. The seeds are black.

It is remarkably crisp and tender; of excellent flavor; yields a large quant.i.ty of salad in proportion to its size; flourishes well at all seasons, even during winter; and must be cla.s.sed as one of the best, and recommended for general cultivation.

SPOTTED CABBAGE (BLACK-SEEDED).

Sanguine a graine noire. _Vil._

The heads of this variety are of medium size, round and regular in their form, and comparatively solid; the sides are brownish-red, but at the crowns the color is changed to clear, bright-red; the outer leaves are short, broad, and round, and strongly marked or clouded with brownish-red, like those composing the head. If grown in winter or in cool weather, the plants attain a diameter of about twelve inches, and will weigh twelve ounces.

It retains its head longer than almost any other variety; and, though sometimes slightly bitter, is considered superior to the White-seeded.

Compared with the last-named, the head is not so well formed, the foliage is deeper colored, and it is not so well adapted for forcing or for cultivation during winter.

SPOTTED CABBAGE (WHITE-SEEDED).

Sanguine a graine blanche. _Vil._

Head yellowish-green, spotted and clouded with brownish-red, of medium size, round and regular. The surplus leaves are small and numerous, round, prominently blistered, copper-green, streaked and variegated with brownish-red. Summer-grown plants will measure ten inches in diameter, and weigh about eight ounces. Winter-grown plants, or those grown in cool and moist weather, will give an increase of the diameter, and weigh nearly a pound.

It is a brittle, well-flavored lettuce, hardy, and well adapted for growing in frames during winter. When grown in the summer months, the head is seldom well formed, and the plants soon run to seed.

STONE TENNIS-BALL.

Gotte lente a monter. _Vil._

Plant quite small, with a uniformly green, regular, solid head; all of the leaves to the heart being strongly wrinkled and coa.r.s.ely blistered.

The exterior leaves are comparatively few and small, green, undulated, and prominently blistered. Summer-grown plants measure six or seven inches in diameter, and weigh about three ounces. When grown early or late in the season, or under the influence of cool and moist weather, the plants attain a larger size; often measuring nine or ten inches in diameter, and weighing eight ounces. The seeds are black.

The Stone Tennis-ball hearts well, is of excellent quality, and, in proportion to its size, yields a large quant.i.ty of salad. It retains its head a long period, even in warm weather, without shooting up to seed; and, as most of the leaves of the plant are embraced in the head, it occupies but a small s.p.a.ce of ground in cultivation. Hardy and early.

SUMMER CABBAGE.

Large White Cabbage. Royal Cabbage. Summer Blond. _Vil._ Sugar Cabbage.

Foliage pale yellowish-green; head of medium size, round, somewhat flattened, firm and close; the leaves composing it are wrinkled and blistered,--those of the outside being frequently torn and broken on the margins about the crown. The entire diameter of a well-grown plant is about twelve inches, and the weight from ten to twelve ounces. The seeds are white.

It is one of the best sorts for summer cultivation, as it not only forms its head readily in warm and dry weather, but remains long in head before running to flower. For forcing, or for sowing early in the season, some other varieties would succeed better. Though sometimes slightly bitter, it is crisp, tender in texture, appears to be adapted to our climate, and is recommended for cultivation.

TENNIS-BALL.

Green Ball. b.u.t.ton. Capuchin. Hardy Hammersmith. _Vil._

One of the oldest and most esteemed of the Cabbage lettuces. The head is below medium size, dark-green, remarkably solid if grown in cool weather, but often loose and open-hearted if cultivated during the summer months; the surplus leaves are few in number, deep-green, slightly curled, and broadly, but not prominently, blistered; the seeds of the genuine variety are black.

The Tennis-ball Lettuce is remarkable for its extreme hardiness.

Winter-grown plants, or those raised in cool, moist weather, will measure about ten inches in diameter, and weigh eight ounces; whilst those raised under opposite conditions rarely exceed seven or eight inches in diameter, or weigh more than four or five ounces.

It is slow in running to seed, and the head blanches white and tender.

"It requires little room in frames in winter, and yields a great return in spring, as almost the whole plant is eatable." A large Cabbage Lettuce, tinted with brown about the head, is erroneously known in some localities as the "Tennis-ball."

TURKEY CABBAGE.

Similar to the Imperial Head; the princ.i.p.al if not the only difference consisting in the color of the seeds, which are black.

VERSAILLES. _Vil._

Swedish. Blond Versailles. Sugar-lettuce.

Head pale yellowish-green, large, long, and compactly formed; the exterior leaves are large, numerous, wrinkled, and coa.r.s.ely blistered.

When in its greatest perfection, the extreme diameter of the whole plant is about fourteen inches, and its weight twelve or fourteen ounces. The seeds are white.

This variety forms its head quickly and uniformly; cabbages white and crisp; is slow in shooting up to seed; flourishes in almost every description of soil, and at all seasons, except, perhaps, in extreme cold; and, though sometimes slightly bitter to the taste, is crisp, tender, and of good quality.

With the exception of its paler color, it resembles the Neapolitan. It is one of the best of all varieties for summer cultivation.

VICTORIA OR RED-BORDERED. _Vil._

An excellent early and hardy variety. The head is of medium size, tinted or washed with red at the top, round and regular in form, and comparatively solid; leaves large, yellowish-green, wrinkled, and blistered. If grown in summer, the plants measure eight or nine inches in diameter, and weigh four ounces. In cool weather, the plants attain a diameter of twelve inches, and weigh from ten to twelve ounces; seeds white.

The Victoria Lettuce is larger than the Tennis-ball, heads freely, and is crisp and well flavored. When sown in summer, it soon runs to flower; but, in cool weather, the heads are well retained.

WHITE GOTTE (BLACK-SEEDED). _Vil._

A small, low-growing, yellowish-green Cabbage Lettuce, with a comparatively loose head. The plants rarely measure more than six inches in their full diameter, or weigh above four ounces.

It is one of the earliest of all the lettuces, crisp, of good flavor, and well adapted for forcing or for frame culture. Besides the distinction in the color of the seeds, it differs from the White-seeded White Gotte in its smaller and more loosely formed heads.

WHITE GOTTE (WHITE-SEEDED). _Vil._

White Tennis-ball.

This variety has a small, long, firm, and close head; and is uniformly of a yellowish-green color. The outer leaves are small, light greenish-yellow, waved on the borders, and prominently blistered. The plant is of small dimensions; rarely measuring more than six or seven inches in diameter, or weighing above three ounces. The variety is early, crisp, and well flavored, but soon runs to seed, and is much better adapted for growing in winter, or for forcing, than for cultivation in the summer months.

WHITE SILESIAN, OR WHITE BATAVIAN. _Vil._