Cook, H. A. (Henry A.)
Ten years' experience in raising carrots and cabbage by H. A. Cook is a practical agricultural pamphlet written in the mid-19th century. It guides small farmers and gardeners toward efficient, low-cost methods for cultivating, harvesting, storing, and marketing carrots and cabbages, with advice on seed selection, soil preparation, cultivation tools, and simple on-farm management.The text opens with carrots: choose loose, even loam; plow and manure in fall; rotate; use fresh “long orange” seed. Pre-soak and warm the seed to hasten sprouting, mark straight rows with a homemade dray, and sow by hand through a horn; roll the ground after. Start cultivation as soon as rows show, working deeply with a three-tooth cultivator, then hoe sharply and weed promptly (never on wet soil), stopping horse work once roots reach finger size. Harvest by mowing tops, deep-plowing twice to roll roots out, raking them up, heaping to “sweat” dry, and then storing in bins or pits; carrots are praised as superior feed and kitchen fare, and instructions are given for raising, cleaning, and selecting fresh green seed. For cabbage, select varieties by climate, start plants in a cold frame, and transplant on dry ground using a muck–plaster–ash dip that prevents wilt and speeds recovery; plant in straight lines, cultivate deeply, and promote tight heads with repeated light dressings of a salt–plaster mix; control lice with sifted ashes or soot; harvest late, pull with a crotched stick, and store by trenchi…
These books are free to read. Each is in the public domain in the United States; check your own country's rules before you copy or share one.
