gn is to winter over fall
grown plants, the seed are planted in the open ground about the middle
of September, and at about the last of October they are ready to go into
the cold frames, as such are called that depend wholly on the sun for
heat. Select those having short stumps and transplant into the frames,
about an inch and a half by two inches apart, setting them deep in the
soil up to the lower leaves, shading them with a straw mat, or the like,
for a few days, after which let them remain without any glass over them
until the frost is severe enough to begin to freeze the ground, then
place over the sashes; but bear in mind that the object is not to
promote growth, but, as nearly as possible, to keep them in a dormant
state, to keep them so cold that they will not grow, and just
sufficiently protected to prevent injury from freezing. With this object
in view the sashes must be raised whenever the temperature is above
freezing, and this process will so harden the plants that they will
receive no serious injury though the ground under the sash should freeze
two inches deep; cabbage plants will stand a temperature of fifteen to
twenty degrees below the freezing point. A covering of snow on the sash
will do no harm, if it does not last longer than a week or ten days, in
which case it must be removed. There is some danger to be feared from
ground mice, who, when everything else is locked up by the frost, will
instinctively take to the sash, and there cause much destruction among
the plants unless these are occasionally examined. When March opens
remove the sash when the temperature will allow, replacing it when the
weather is unseasonably cold, particularly at night. The plants may be
brought still farther forward by transferring them from the hot-bed when
two or three inches high to cold frames, having first somewhat hardened
them. When so transferred plant them about an inch apart, and shield
from the sun for two or three days. After this they may be treated as in
cold frames. The transfer tends to keep them stocky, increases the
fibrous roots and makes the plants hardier. As the month advances it may
be left entirely off, and about the first of April the plants may be set
out in the open field, pressing fine earth firmly around the roots.

When cabbages are raised in hot-beds the seed, in the latitude of
Boston, should be planted on the first of March; in that of New York,
about a fortnight earlier. When two or three i