PREPARING THE SOIL
Should the soil be a heavy clay, a deep fall ploughing is best, that the frosts of winter may disintegrate it; and should the plan be to raise an early crop, this end will be promoted by fall ploughing, on any soil, as the land will thereby be made drier in early spring. In New England the soil for cabbages should be ploughed as deep as the subsoil, and the larger drumheads should be planted only on the deepest soil. If the season should prove a favorable one, a good crop of cabbage may be grown on sod broken up immediately after a crop of hay has been taken from it, provided plenty of fine manure is harrowed in. One great risk here is from the dry weather that usually prevails at that season, preventing the prompt germination of the seed, or rooting of the plants. It is prudent in such a case to have a good stock of plants, that such as die may be promptly replaced. It is wise to plant the seed for these a week earlier than the main crop, for when transplanted to fill the vacant places it will take about a week for them to get well rooted.