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Gardening
: Research
: Brassicas
Nov. 30, 1759, Christopher Ayscough, gardener to Governor Fauquier:
Early Dutch Cabbage, Sugar loaf cabbage, Battersea cabbage, Large Winter
cabbage, Red cabbage, Yellow Savoy cabbage, Green Savoy cabbage, Early
colliflower, Late colliflower, Colliflower broccoli, Purple broccoli,
Curled colewort, Large English turnip, Early Dutch turnip.
March 26, 1767, William Wills,
Richmond, John Donley, Petersburg:
Early York Cabbage, Early Sugar Loaf Cabbage,
Early Battersea Cabbage, Large Winter
Cabbage, Savoys Red Cabbage, Colliflower,
Colliflower Broccoli, Purple Broccoli,
Winter and Summer Colewort, Turnips, summer
and winter of various sorts
March 10, 1768, William Wills,
Richmond, John Donley, Petersburg:
Sugar Loaf Cabbage, Battesea Cabbage,
Russia Cabbage, Savoy, Early Dutch Cabbage,
Early Yorkshire Cabbage, Red Cabbage,
Winter Cabbage, Colliflower, Broccoli,
Broccoli Colliflower,
Green, White and Yellow Broccoli, Red
Ring Turnip, White Round Turnip
Dec. 31, 1772, John Carter Store,
Williamsburg: Large Cabbage, Large
English Cabbage, Early dwarf sugar loaf
cabbage, Best colliflower, Green Brocoli,
Purple Brocoli.
Jan. 7, 1773, John Carter Store, Williamsburg: White round turnip.
Dec. 16, 1773, John Carter Store, Williamsburg: Battersea Cabbage,
Large sugar loaf cabbage, Yorkshire Cabbage, Hanover turnip.
Jan. 3, 1774, James Wilson, Gardener at W&M College: Early
Yorkshire Cabbage, Early Battersea Cabbage, Early Sugar Loaf Cabbage,
White Dutch Cabbage, Red Cabbage, Large Hollow Cabbage, Green Savoy, Yellow
Savoy, Purple Brocoli, White Brocoli, Early Cauliflower, Late Cauliflower,
Early Dutch Turnip, Norfolk Turnip, Early Green Turnip, Round Red Turnip.
Oct. 10, 1771, Mr. Campbell's Store, Richmond: Common Cabbage,
Green Savoy Cabbage, Early yellow Savoy Cabbage, Early yellow loaf Cabbage,
Italien Brocoli, Colliflower, Curled Green kail, Summer turnip.
Mar. 7, 1792, Milton Collins, Richmond: Early Cabbage & Late
Cabbage, Early sugar loaf Cabbage & Late sugar loaf Cabbage, Large
Winter Cabbage & Scotch Cabbage, Madeira Cabbage, Red cabbage to pickle,
Early purple brocoli & Late purple brocoli, Early cauliflower &
Late cauliflower, Early Dutch & summer turnip, Early Hanover turnip,
Large field turnip.
Oct. 17, 1792, Milton Collins, Richmond: Early York Cabbage,
sugar loaf Cabbage, Battersea Cabbage, Scotch Cabbage, Madeira Cabbage,
Brocoli, cauliflower.
1793, John Randolph, Treatise on Gardening: White
Cabbage, Sugar loaf Cabbage, Battersea Cabbage, Russia Cabbage, Musk Cabbage,
Savoy Cabbage, Turnep Cabbage, Roman (Italian) Brocoli, Cauliflower, Curled
Colewort, Common Colewort, White Turnep, Purple Turnep.
1786, Joseph Prentis, Monthly Kalender & Garden Book:
Cabbage, Savoy Cabbage, Purple Brocoli, White Brocoli, Colliflower,
Colewort, Turnep.
1757 - 1771, Landon Carter's Diary, Sabine Hall: Sugarloaf Cabbage,
Savoy Cabbage, Large Late Dutch Cabbage, Early Cabbage, Cauliflower, Naval
Officer Lee's Cauliflower, Brocoli, English Brocoli, Coleflower Brocoli,
Colewort, Large field Colewort (Brassica arvensis), Turnep Cabbage, Stewart's
Turnep, Campbell's Turnep, Norway Turnep, Reynold's Turnep, Napir Turnep,
Battersea Turnep, Green Turnep, Dutch Turnep, Winter Turnep, Keil.
Circa 1737, William Byrd II, Natural History of Virginia:
White Cabbage, Red Cabbage, Smooth Savoy Cabbage, Curled Red Cabbage,
Curled Green Cabbage, Cauliflower.
1786, Lady Jane Skipwith of Prestwould:
Large Winter Cabbage, Large Scotch
Cabbage, Late Sugar loaf Cabbage, Early
Sugar Loaf Cabbage.
1797 – 98, Diary or Major
Thomas Jones Essex Co.:
Forward Cabbage, Savoys, York Cabbage,
Large Cabbage,
Early Sugar Loaf Cabbage, Drumhead Cabbage,
Large White Winter Cabbage, Cauliflower
Brocoli, Colewort, Siberian Borecole,
Turnip Cabbage, Large White Turnip
1807, Lady Skipwith of Prestwould: Madeira Cabbage, Red Dutch
Cabbage, Drumhead Cabbage, Early York Cabbage, Large Winter Cabbage, Cauliflower,
Brocoli.
The Cabbage family has one of the longest histories of all European
vegetables. Most botanists agree that all of our modern Brassicas were
developed from the wild sea kale (B. oleracea, var., sylvestris) that
is native along the sea coast of western and southern Europe. The Jews
apparently did not know this plant for there is no reference to cabbage
in the Bible. The Greeks and Romans certainly did and several varieties
are mentioned as both medicinal and culinary plants by Cato, Pliny,
Columella, Dioscorides, Theophrastus and others. The primitive forms
of cabbage, generally known as coleworts, provided the most important
green for the medieval potage and remained one of the primary greens
in the diet well into the 17th century. The Countrey Farme (1616) is
a translation of the French Maison rustique. This work was first published
in Latin as Praedium Rusticum in 1554 by Charles Estienne. His son-in-law,
the physician Jean Leibult, published the French version in 1564 which,
in turn, was translated to English by Surflet in 1616. Of coleworts he
writes: “First of all we are to speake of Coeworts, both because
they are most common, and also most aboundant of all other sorts of hearbs.” He
also writes of the emerging closed headed coles, known as cabbages today,
which are just starting to emerge in 16th England as a separate crop.
They are described as: “Cabbage-colewort, which are called white
or apple Coleworts.”
Cabbages were introduced to Virginia with the first settlers at Jamestown.
Alexander Whitaker in his treatise titled Good Newes from Virginia,
(1612), writes, "Our English seeds thrive very well heare, as Peas,
Onions, Turnips, Cabbages, Coleflowers," (etc.). By the 18th century
there are a wide variety of cabbages known in Williamsburg. Alexander
Byrdie advertises in the Virginia Gazette that he has "just received
by the Latona from London and the Peace from Bristol a well
chosen variety of Garden seeds which are warrented to be of the latest
crop, including, Cabbages - 22 kinds."
As the list of 18th century references to cabbage and other Brassica
varieties demonstrate, this was a very important group of plants to colonial
Virginians. There are more varieties of Brassicas listed by local sources
than any other garden vegetable. They were used for both animal and human
food and were planted out on a large scale on colonial plantations.
Most 18th century varieties of Brassica have disappeared. Cabbages,
in particular, are difficult to save seed from because of their biennial
nature as well as the fact that all cabbages require cross pollination.
Consequently, more individual plants need to be set aside to produce viable
seed than a self fertile plant such as a pea or bean.
A: Late season Round and Flat-sided Cabbages:
This is the oldest group of cabbages and comprise the larger and later
varieties of heading cabbages. Heading cabbages are known in Germany by
1150 and may have been introduced into England as early as the 14th century.
An early reference that seems to distinguish between cabbage and colewort
(coleworts were probably known in England by the first century AD) comes
in William Caxton's Vitas patrum (1495), "He laboured the
gardins, sewe the seedes for cabochis, and coleworts." The first
use of the scientific name for cabbage is found in John Baret's An
alvearie or triple dictionarie (1580), "Cabage or cole cabege,
brassica capitata." However, the first cabbages in England may have
been of a very primitive form or perhaps of limited distribution until late in the 16th century. Thomas Hill, in The Gardeners Labyrinth,
(1577), does not make a clear reference to cabbaging types of Cole and
John Evelyn writes in Acetaria, A Discourse of Sallets, (1699),
'Tis scarce an hundred Years since we first had Cabbages out of Holland.
Sir Anth. Ashley of Wiburg St. Giles in Dorsetshire, being (as I am told)
the first who planted them in England."
The first pictorial evidence of cabbaging coles in England come from
Gerard's Herball or General Historie of Plants, (1597), in which
he pictures the White Cabbage Cole, a large winter cabbage, very round
with a white interior that he says "is the great ordinarie Cabbage
knowne every where, and as commonly eaten all over this kingdom."
Parkinson, in Paradisis in Sol, (1629) pictures several cabbage
varieties and calls the large round cabbage Ordinary Cabbage. By 1693,
when John Evelyn publishes the translation of the Frenchman De La Quintinye's
The Compleat Gard'ner, there are at least six varieties of cabbage
cultivated in gardens and the white or bright is the common late
round variety sown for winter or early spring use.
The varieties of cabbages listed in the
survey of 18th century Virginia references
that most likely fall into the late cabbage
category are: Large Winter, Large, Large
English, Common or White, and Late. By
the 18th century the flat and long sided
varieties of common cabbage appear. Philip
Miller, in the 1754 edition of The
Gardeners Dictionary, includes in
the list of cabbages fit for winter use,
Common White, flat, and long sided. The
flat cabbage often goes by the name of
Dutch Cabbage and, late in the century,
as Drumhead Cabbage. Stephen Switzer,
in The Practical Kitchen Gard'ner,
(1727), writes of the Dutch as" being
the flatest and largest of all, and a
very large and flat cabbage." It
is possible that by the late 18th century
the flat sided cabbage had largely replaced
the older, rounder varieties. John Randolph,
in A Treatise on Gardening, (1793),
writes, "The common WHITE CABBAGE,
capitata alba, is the proper sort for
winter. It is long sided and flat."
The references to cabbage varieties
that seem to refer specifically to this
type in the survey are: White Dutch ,
Large Late Dutch) and Drumhead. Cabbages,
particularly the larger and later varieties,
are commonly used as cattle food.
The Scotch Cabbage (Collins, Skipwith),
appears to be almost exclusively grown for livestock.
In a 1771 catalog published in London
titled, A Catalogue of Seeds, Plants,
Fruit-Trees and Flower-Roots sold by James
Gordon, Seedsman, he lists, under
cabbage varieties, "Large Scotch
for Cattle." In J.C. Loudon's An
Encyclopedia of Agriculture, (1829),
he lists the Scotch Cabbage as a "field
cabbage for Cattle." George Washington
grows field cabbages between his corn
rows. On March 15, 1788 he records in
his diary that he plants in the corn rows
Scott's Cabbage, which is likely a misspelling
of the Scotch Cabbage. Lady Skipwith orders,
on March 24, 1798, "2 lb large Scotch
Cabbage seed such as farmers cultivate
to feed cattle." This is apparently
a very large cabbage for it is described
in John Abercrombie's Every Man his
own Gardener, (1782) as Giant or Large
Scotch.
These large cabbages raised for livestock were an important crop
for the husbandman. The Complete
Farmer, published by A
Society of Gentlemen in London in 1769 compares the value of the Scotch
Cabbage to turnips for feeding livestock: “If an ox be allowed
to eat nine stone a day this is, twelve cabbages, then six oxen
will live three months on one acre of them; so that supposing one
acre of turnips, raised in the common method of husbandry, to be
sufficient during the same space of time for two oxen, we may still
expect, in proportion, three times more benefit from the cabbages
then from the turnips.”
The Dutch cabbage is another large variety that is commonly used
for cattle feed. On March 16, 1767 Landon Carter records in his
diary that he orders,
"Large late Dutch Cabbage - 5 pounds" (seed). On October 27
of the same year he has several areas of his plantation measured, "From
the lower to the upper corner of the Cabage ground: 62 pole," (403
ft.). The amount of seed ordered and the large fields planted for
cabbage may indicate use as cattle feed. Walter Nicol, who writes The
Scotch Forcing and Kitchen Gardener (1798) lists this cabbage
as, "Large
broad Dutch for cattle." Stephen Switzer in Practical Kitchen
Gardener, (1727), cautions that this cabbage is fit only for large
families and William Cobbett writes in The English Gardener,
(1829), that, "The drumheads, and other large cabbages, are wholly
unfit for a garden."
In the colonies, we continue to use the large Dutch or Drumhead cabbages
as table fare. Robert Squibb, The Gardeners Calendar, (1778), Gardiner
and Hepburn, The American Gardener, (1804), McMahon, The American
Gardener's Calendar, (1806), and Bridgeman, Young Gardener's Assistant,
(1850) all list the Dutch or Drumhead cabbages as garden vegetables without
prejudice. Indeed, Fearing Burr, in Field and Garden Vegetables of
America, (1865) writes of the Bergen Drumhead [same as the American
Cabbage listed by Washington (1788) and McMahon (1806)], "notwithstanding
its extraordinary proportions, is tender, well flavored, and of more than
average quality for family use."
Peter Henderson, in Gardening For Profit (1867) writes of the
Bergen Drumhead, "This is the variety grown for the general crop,
it is of the largest size, sometimes almost round, though more generally
flattened at the top." He also observes that this is a more cold
hardy variety than the Flat Dutch. These large late season varieties
have been largely replaced by smaller, shorter season cabbages today.
The Brunswick and Late Flat Dutch are heirloom varieties that probably
best illustrate the type.
B. Early Cabbage Varieties
This group includes the cabbage varieties sown primarily for summer
use. Cabbages of this type in the survey are: Sugar loaf, Battersea, Early
York or Yorkshire, Early Dutch, and Russia.
The most frequently recorded cabbage
variety in 18th century Virginia is the
Sugar loaf. There are both early and late
varieties of this plant but the early
variety seems to be the most common sort.
Philip Miller, in the Gardeners Dictionary
(1754) says "Sugar-loaf Cabbages
are commonly sown for Summer-use, and
are what the Gardeners about London commonly
call Michaelmas Cabbages." However,
with both early and late varieties available
to gardeners in Williamsburg this very
popular cabbage could be used almost year
round. John Randolph writes in A Treatise
on Gardening (1793), "But the
SUGAR LOAF, which is the finest, will
remain a considerable time," (compared
to the Battersea). "These should
be sown every month and transplanted every
season."
This is perhaps the oldest variety of early season cabbage. Gerard,
in the Herball (1597) does not list the sugar loaf cabbage but
Parkinson, in Paradisi in Sol (1629), does and explains its name
by saying that it is smaller at the top than at the bottom, ie, like a
sugar loaf. Philip Miller in The Gardeners Dictionary (1754) describes
it as "Brassica capitata alba pyramidalis." Almost all of the
early cabbages have this sugar loaf form but the Sugar Loaf variety seems
to evolve into an inverted cone over time. Fearing Burr in Field and
Garden Vegetables of America (1865) says, "The color of this
variety and the form of its head, distinguish it from all others. The
plant, when well developed, has an appearance not unlike some of the varieties
of Cos lettuces; the head being round and full at the top, and tapering
thence to the base, forming a tolerably regular inverted cone." MM..
Vilmorin-Audrieux, who wrote The Vegetable Garden, translated to
English by W. Robinson (1885), agrees with this description.
The Sugar loaf seems to disappear late in the 19th century. Robinson
observes in The Vegetable Garden (1885) that although this is a
very old and well known cabbage it is rarely cultivated any longer in
Europe.
The Battersea cabbage is a cone shaped cabbage
that matures earlier than the Sugar loaf.
It was developed in the early 18th century
by market gardeners in the Battersea region
near London. Evelyn does not mention this
cabbage in Acetaria (1693) but
it is described in Stephen Switzer's Practical
Kitchen Gardener (1727) who writes
that it is "raised in Battersea,
the Devizes and other places." Richard
Bradley in New Improvements of Planting
& Gardening (1731) lists it as
a variety of "White Cabbage of which
the Gardeners at Battersea in Surry have
a kind that comes very early, and is the
best for Summer." It is somewhat
larger than the Sugar loaf according to
William Cobbett who writes in The American
Gardener (1821) that while Sugar loaf
cabbages may be spaced at 20", the
Battersea should be spaced at 30".
The draw back to this variety is that
it does not last long in the field. This
is expressed by many authors, including
John Randolph who writes in A Treatise
on Gardening (1793), "The BATTERSEA
CABBAGE is the earliest of all, and head
in a short time, and burst if not cut
soon."
The Early York or Yorkshire cabbage was introduced
to English gardeners in the middle of
the 18th century. Fearing Burr, in Field
and Garden Vegetables of America (1865),
writes, "According to Rogers, the
Early York Cabbage was introduced into
England from Flanders, more than a hundred
years ago, by a private soldier named
Telford, who was there many years in the
reign of Queen Anne. On his return to
England, he settled as a seedsman in Yorkshire;
whence the name and celebrity of the variety."
The Early York cabbage is not listed by
Miller in the Gardeners Dictionary
in either the 1754 or 1768 edition. It
is listed by Abercrombie, Every Man
his own Gardener (1779), and, in Williamsburg,
the Yorkshire cabbage is advertised at
the John Carter store in 1773. It is a
somewhat darker and smaller cabbage than
either the Sugar loaf or Battersea. William
Cobbett, in The American Gardener
(1821) recommends only a 16" spacing
for this cabbage. While still a conical
head it tends towards roundness in its
apex. The Early York remains a very popular
cabbage in the United States well into
the 19th century. Fearing Burr (1865)
writes, "In this country it is one
of the oldest, most familiar, and, as
an early market sort, one of the most
popular, of all the kinds now cultivated."
Peter Henderson, in Gardening For Profit
(1867), writes of the Early York, "This
well-known variety is more universally
cultivated than all others." However,
for market garden purposes, he writes
this it has largely been replaced by the
Jersey Wakefield.
The Early Dutch cabbage is most likely
an early round variety. Dutch
cabbage, as an individual variety, is
difficult to trace because so many of
the first cabbage varieties in England
came from the Netherlands. Stephen Switzer, in The
Practical Kitchen Gardener (1727)
lists a Dutch cabbage that comes in with
the Sugar loaf and John Hill in Eden:
or, A Compleat Body of Gardening (1757),
lists a variety he calls, Dutch, or "the
earliest sort." It is likely a cabbage
similar to Burr's, Field and Garden
Vegetables of America (1865), Early
Low Dutch. Amelia Simmons, in American
Cookery (1796) also refers to "a
low Dutch cabbage." Burr describes
Dutch cabbage as a well known variety
that is round, of medium size with a solid
head and blistered leaves sometimes tinged
brown at the top.
The Russia cabbage is another cabbage of obscure
origin. Most cabbage varieties before the middle of the 18th century
appear to originate in mainland Europe. John Evelyn writes in Acetaria,
A Discourse of Sallets (1699); “the best sorts [cabbages]
come from Denmark and Russia.” The
Russia cabbage is first mentioned in Switzer's
Practical Kitchen Gardener (1727)
who lists it with the Battersea as a small,
early type of cabbage and says the seed
comes from Denmark or Hamburg. Philip
Miller, in the Gardeners Dictionary
(1754), writes, "The Russian Cabbage
was formerly in greater Esteem than at
present, it being now only to be found
in Gentlemen's Gardens, who cultivate
it for their own Use, and is rarely ever
brought to the Market." One reason
for its obscurity may be that it is difficult
to raise seed in England so, as Miller
writes, "it is necessary to procure
fresh Seeds from abroad every Year; for
it is apt to degenerate in England in
a few Years." It is a small, hard,
early cabbage (July-August in England)
that is probably not known
in the colonies. It is listed by several
English authors but mentioned only in
Randolph's A Treatise on Gardening
(1793), in America, and he writes only,
"There is a Cabbage which is called
the RUSSIA kind. They are very small and
soon degenerate, if the seed is not changed."
There are only a few early season varieties available today that
approximate the many varieties of early cabbage known in the 18th
century. One of the oldest surviving members of this group is
the French Ox-heart. Jefferson sends this cabbage from Paris to
Francis Eppes in 1786. Fearing Burr, in Field and Garden Vegetables
of America (1865) describes the Small Ox-Heart as intermediate
between the Yorks and Drumheads; more nearly, however, resembling
the former. He also writes that it is about ten days later
than the York. The Winnigstadt is an early cabbage with a sharp,
somewhat open apex. The Jersey Wakefield is perhaps the best
known early cabbage grown today and dates to the first half of
the 19th century. It is a somewhat earlier cabbage than the Ox-heart
or Winningstadt and has a pointed head tending to roundness
at the apex. Like the Battersea cabbage of the 18th century,
it has a tendency to burst if left in the ground too long. The
Glory of Enkhuizen is an heirloom, early season, flat cabbage
that may be used to approximate the early Dutch. Copenhagan
is an early 19th century round variety that would be considered
and early season cabbage in the 18th century.
C. Red Cabbage
The red cabbages appear to be as old as the
larger, late season white cabbages. They
are described in Germany as early as 1150
and a red cabbage is pictured in Leonhart
Fuchs's Codex, completed
around 1563 but never published. This
is not the solid red cabbage we are familiar
with today but a green cabbage with red
veins and red fringes on the leaves, especially
towards the heart of the plant. This is
a trait that probably remains through
the 18th century for as late as 1885,
the Red Dutch cabbage is described in
Vilmorin's Vegetable Garden , as
"a red cabbage, sometimes mixed with
green." Gerard lists a Red Cabbage
Cole in his Herball (1597) and
says it is smaller than the white. It
is listed by virtually every garden writer
after that time. The Red Cabbages are
used almost exclusively for pickling for,
as Burr observes about the Red Dutch in
his Field and Garden Vegetables of
America (1865), "On account of
its dark color when cooked, it is seldom
used in the manner of the common cabbages,
but is chiefly used for pickling, or,
like the other red sorts, cut in shreds,
and served as a salad." Bernard McMahon,
in The American Gardener's Calender
(1806), lists this cabbage simply as the
Red Pickling and it is advertised in the
Virginia Gazette by Milton Collins (1792)
as "Red cabbage to pickle."
It is a very late season cabbage which,
according to Miller in the Gardeners
Dictionary (1754) and Gardiner and
Hepburn, The American Gardener
(1804) is sown in March with the early
cabbages but does not mature until the
following winter.
One of the oldest and most common varieties
of this sort is the Red Dutch. The Red
Danish is probably the best variety to
approximate this cabbage available today.
D. Savoy Cabbage
The Savoy cabbage is named for the former Duchy
of Savoy which was a small province lying
between Italy and France. It is thought
that the Savoy cabbage was brought from
Italy to France late in the 16th century
by Marie de Medici who was married to
King Henry IV of France. It arrives in
England soon after for two Savoys are
described by Gerard in his Herball
(1597). Savoys are distinguished from
other varieties by a milder flavor, looser
head and by the crinkled or blistered
appearance of their leaves. The original
Savoys had both smooth and curled leaf
forms. Gerard lists a Savoy Cole and a
Curled Savoy Cole. William Byrd II lists
a smooth savoy in his Natural History
of Virginia (1737). Modern Savoys
are usually of the curled sort (referring
to the undulations on the outer leaf margins).
Fearing Burr, in Field and Garden Vegetables
of America (1865), says the "Green
Globe Savoy or Green Curled Savoy has
been long in cultivation, and become the
standard sort." It also has the blue
green coloration typical of most Savoys
known today.
The original Savoys had somewhat looser heads than our modern Savoys.
Gerard describes the Savoy Cole in 1597 "as numbered among the headed
Coleworts or Cabbages...but when they come to the shutting up they stand
at stay, and rather show themselves wider open, than shut any nearer together."
His illustration shows a cabbage very much like a Cos lettuce in form.
Amelia Simmons agrees with this description in American Cookery
(1796), writing, "The Green Savoy, with the richest crinkles, is
fine and tender; and altho' they do not head like the Dutch or Yorkshire,
yet the tenderness of the cut leaves is a counterpoise."
The Savoy is used primarily as a winter Cabbage. John Randolph in A
Treatise on Gardening (1793), writes, "The SAVOY CABBAGES, which
are esteemed best, when pinched by the frost, are to be treated in the
same manner as the white, only they may be planted nearer one another,
not being a long sort."
While the green variety seems to be
the most common type there is also a yellow
variety that is almost as popular. Amelia
Simmons writes that the yellow is "next
in rank, but will not last long."
There are several green Savoy varieties
of cabbage available today though they
all have very tight round heads rather
than the somewhat open heads described
above. A Dutch variety of Savoy, Bloemendaalse
gele, slobberkool, is an upright,
open varietyof yellow savoy that agrees
with the 18th century descriptions very
well. It is also a very long season cabbage,
typically taking 230 days from seed to
harvest. Many varieties of 18th century
Brassicas show this trait of exceptionally
long seasons compared to modern cabbages.
Bloemendaasel gele is an old variety that
is seldom grown in the Netherlands any
longer that probably dates to the middle
of the 19th cemtury. Bloemendaal was an
important agricultural center behind the
dunes that supplied produce to the Haarlem
and Amsterdam markets in the 17th and
18th century. Another Dutch variety called
Westlandse Putjes is a smaller, up right
green savoy with an open top. While neither
of these varieties can be dated to the
18th century, they both illustrate the
phenotype of the 18th century form.
E. Musk Cabbage
The Musk cabbage is listed only by Miller
(Gardeners Dictionary), in England
and Randolph (A Treatise on Gardening),
in America. Both authors describe it as
a very fine cabbage. Randolph writes,
"There is a MUSK CABBAGE, remarkable
for its tasting like musk, and is to be
treated in the common manner. I have met
with these in Virginia, but Miller says
they are not propagated much in England,
tho' the most delicious." This information
comes from Philip Miller's Gardeners
Dictionary who writes in the 1754
edition, "The Musk-cabbage has, through
Negligence, been almost lost in England,
though for eating it is one of the best
Kinds we have." By the end of the
century it had disappeared altogether.
Thomas Martyns, who continued to update
and enlarge Miller's Gardeners Dictionary
into the 19th century writes in The
Gardener's and Botanist's Dictionary (1807)
that this cabbage is now lost due to the
fact that it is not winter hardy in England.
F. Madeira Cabbage
This cabbage appears in the survey late
in the 18th century and early in the next.
This is an intriguing cabbage that is
not listed by any English author that
I can discover. Madeira is a Portuguese
island off the coast of Morocco. There
is a curious little cabbage called the
Portugal Cabbage that is of ancient lineage
and may represent one of the very first
heading varieties of cabbage. Weaver,
in Heirloom Vegetable Gardening
(1997), has found that John Evelyn first
acquired seed for this cabbage in 1728
under the name of Coves Murcianus. It
is apparently lost to English cultivation
and then reintroduced in 1821 only to
be lost again because it did not stand
the English winters (Gardener's Magazine,
1827, 434-35). The introduction date of
the Portugal cabbage to this country is
thought to have been in the 1840's. Presumably,
the Madeira cabbage was introduced to
America through the very active Madeira
Trade late in the 18th century and it
is intriguing to speculate that the Madeira
cabbage advertised by Milton Collins in 1792 may represent an earlier
introduction of the Portugal cabbage.
William Cobbett., in A Journal
of a Year’s Residence in
the United States of America (1818) gives a comparison of size
(spacing) and length of season for a number of cabbage varieties.
Recommended spacing: “Early Salisbury 12”, Early York
15”, Battersea 20”, Sugar loaf 24”, Savoy’s
2 ½’, Drum-head, Thousand-headed, Large Hollow, Ox
Cabbage 4’. “ From transplant to harvest: “Early
Salisbury 6wks, Early York 8 wks, Early Battersea 10 wks, Sugar
Loaf 11 wks, Late Battersea 16 wks, Red Kentish 16 wks, Drum-head,
Thousand-headed, Large Hollow, Ox, Savoy – 5 months.”
G. Cauliflower
The Cauliflower appears to have been
developed in Cypress or the Levant and
is introduced to Italy around 1490. It
may represent a degenerate form of the
Portugal cabbage. According to Martyns
in the Gardener's and Botanist's Dictionary
(1807), it appears in the London markets
around 1680. It was certainly known before
this time but perhaps not as a commercial
crop. Cauliflower is not listed in Fuchs,
De Historia Stirpium (1542) or
in Hill's The Gardener's Labyrinth
(1577), but John Gerard does describe
the "Cole Florie or Colleflore"
in the Herball (1597). It immediately
becomes a great favorite, at least with
gentleman gardeners, which is evident
in Gerard' description of the plant, "The
white Cabbage is best next unto the Cole-florey;
yet Cato doth chiefly commend the russet
Cole: but he knew neither the white ones,
nor the Cole-florey: for if he had, his
censure had been otherwise." Parkinson
agrees with Gerard, writing in Paradisi
in Sol (1629), of the Coleflower,
"this hath a much pleasanter taste
then eyther the Colewort, or Cabbage of
any kind." Throughout the 17th century
the English relied on seed imported from
continental Europe but by the 18th century,
according to Philip Miller in The Gardeners
Dictionary (1754), the English are
raising some of the finest cauliflower
in Europe. He writes, "Cauliflowers
have of late Years been so far improved
in England, as to exceed in Goodness and
Magnitude what are produced in most Parts
of Europe."
Cauliflower is introduced to Virginia
at a very early date, being recorded by
Whitaker in Good Newes from Virginia
(1612), but it appears to be a vegetable
found primarily in gentleman's gardens
throughout the colonial period. The Rev.
John Banister records in the 1680's that
in Virginia, "We have all sorts of
salleting and potherbs, as also Coleworts,
Cabbage, Asparagus, and in some gardens
Artichokes and Collyflowers." In early 18th century North
Carolina John Lawson records in A New Voyage to Carolina (1709), “The
Colly-Flower we have not yet had an opportunity to make Tryal of.” In
Williamsburg John Randolph, in A Treatise on Gardening (1793),
gives three and one half pages to Cauliflower, indicating its popularity,
particularly among gentlemen by this time.
Cauliflower, compared to the other members of the Cabbage family, can
be difficult to grow, especially to grow well. Randolph writes in A
Treatise on Gardening (1793), "CAULIFLOWERS, must be sown critically
to a day, or else there is no dependence on the success of them."
Landon Carter records in his diary on April 29, 1771, "Now but a
very few of Naval Officer Lee's Cauliflower seed sown in March are come
up. Perhaps they should have been sown in warm places or hot beds."
Hot beds and glasses are often recommended for the cultivation of cauliflower
and this is the likely reason they are more common in gentleman's gardens
who have the leisure to experiment. There are very few varieties listed
for the cauliflower, most authors mentioning only the early and the late
cauliflower. The modern cauliflower seems to be very similar in appearance
to the cauliflower known in the 18th century.
H. Broccoli
Broccoli, at least in its asparagoides
form, may be even more ancient than cauliflower.
Broculus is listed next to coleworts in
the circa 1500 seed catalog, Herbys
necessary for a gardyn by letter,
attributed to Fromond. Robinson, in his
translation of Vilmorin's Vegetable
Garden (1885), writes, "the cultivation
of broccoli dates back to a more remote
period than that of Cauliflower, as the
name, at least, would lead us to believe."
What he is referring to is the Latin
root for the word broccoli that refers
to the young flower shoots of cabbages
or turnips. These have been used for many
centuries by Italian gardeners who were
responsible for creating the first distinct
forms of broccoli.
Giacomo Castelvetro records in The Fruits, Herbs & Vegetables of Italy (1614)
that “Sprouting broccoli… come [from] the tender shoots which grow
on the stalks of cabbage or cauliflower plants left in the garden over the winter.” This
is an ancient practice in Italy. Pliny writes in Natural History, Book
XIX, section XLI (c. 70 AD) of cabbage: “In the next spring after its first
sowing it yields sprout-cabbage; this is a sort of small sprout from the actual
cabbage stalks, of a more delicate and tender quality.” This practice is
also common in the 18th century. Stephen Switzer writes in The Practical Kitchen-Gardener
(1727): “I need say little of the sprouts that come form old cabbage-stalks,
they being well known to produce very tender and very excellent kele in spring.
Fearing Burr speculates in Field and Garden Vegetables of America
(1865) that unlike cauliflower, which seems to arise from the Portugal
cabbage, broccoli is developed from the “Chou cavalier, or
tall, open Cabbage,” similar
to the “Tall Curled Kale.” J.C. Loudon writes
in the Encyclopedia of Gardening (1822) that broccoli first
came to Europe in the mid 16th century. However, Broccoli
is not listed by Fuchs (1542), Hill (1577),
Gerard (1597) or Parkinson (1629) so even
if it was known in some quarters it was
of very limited distribution. The first
reference to broccoli by an English writer
that I can find comes from Evelyn's Acetaria (1699) who
calls it "The Broccoli
from Naples."
A New System of Agriculture, first published by John
Laurence in Dublin in 1726, records: “The Brocauli is an
Italian Plant, brought lately from Rome by the present Earl of
Burlington, who has given it a Reputation among those who love
Novelties…Although it is of the Cauli Kind; yet it requires
a particular Management, and therefore particular Directions. Many
ignorant of the Plant, will be sowing it in the Spring; but it
should not be sown till about Midsummer, and not much after…that
it may attain Strength to get over the Winter.” The
original forms of broccoli exhibited the biennial flowering cycle
of most Brassicas and had to go over the winter to form their sprouts,
spring planted broccoli gives only leaves and no sprouts. The following
year, Stephen
Switzer writes in Practical Kitchen Gardener (1727), that
broccoli "has
been, till within these few years, a stranger in England." He
also writes that the seed comes from Venice or Naples and calls
it "Italian Asparagus"
saying there are three forms; one having curled leaves and sprouts like
asparagus, another with paler leaves and "sprouts like the red
kind,"
and the rarest sort which has sprouts like small cauliflowers. Philip
Miller in the
The gardeners and florists dictionary (1724) refers to it by the names
sprout colli-flower or Italian Asparagus. By the 1754 edition of the Gardeners
Dictionary, Miller lists, "several Kinds; viz. The Roman, Neapolitan,
and black Broccoli, with some others." He also speaks of "The
brown Broccoli," saying "it is by many Persons greatly esteemed,
tho' it doth not deserve a Place in the Kitchen garden, where the Roman
Broccoli can be obtained, which is much sweeter." He also writes
of "The Naples Broccoli," which "hath white Heads, very
like those of the Cauliflower." In his list of Brassica species
he also includes "The green Broccoli" as distinct from
the Italian broccoli, calling it "BRASSICA capitata virescens
Italica crispa,"
which is likely a reference to the archaic forms of tall Kale (crispa)
varieties from which the modern broccoli is derived.
By the end of the 18th century, shorter season broccoli varieties
were developed that could be grown in a single season, though they
would still be considered long season plants compared to the modern
green broccoli. Ellis records four varieties of broccoli in The
gardener’s pocket-calendar (1776): “Early Purple, Purple,
Black” and the “Cauliflower broccoli.” The Early
Purple was harvested in November from a spring sowing while the
last three were harvested from early winter to spring.
Although several sorts of broccoli are know
in Virginia, the purple or Roman appears
to be the most common. John Randolph writes
in A Treatise on Gardening (1793)
that "The Roman Brocoli is the proper
sort to cultivate, otherwise called the
Italian Brocoli," saying "that
they will have purple heads." William
Cobbett speculates in The English Gardener
(1829), that the green broccoli is a later
introduction that results from a crossing
of the white and purple forms. It is curious
that while broccoli seems to be quite
common in Williamsburg in the 18th century
Cobbett writes in 1829
from his experience on Long Island, "Broccoli
is not much cultivated in America; and,
indeed, scarcely at all." It may
be that broccoli does not become a common
market crop until later in the 19th century
and is found only in kitchen gardens as
the Williamsburg references would suggest.
In form the Italian broccoli was a much leggier plant than the
modern green broccoli with much smaller florets. The length of
the flower stems are sited as a primary difference between cauliflower
and broccoli by many authors and the stems are equally important
as the florets at the table, generally stripped and served with
butter. Randolph concurs, writing, "The stems will eat like Asparagus and the heads
like Cauliflowers."
I. Coleworts, Borecole
and Kale
These plants are closest, in form, to the ancestor
of all cabbage family plants. Coleworts
are recorded by the Greeks as early as
600 BC and are the primary leafy Brassica
well into the second millennia AD. Until
about the middle of the 18th century,
the distinction between colewort, borecole
(also spelled boorcole or boor-Cole) and
Kale (also spelled Keil, Kele Kail and
Cale), seems to be largely semantic. William
Turner in The names of herbs in Greke,
Latin, Englishe, Duche and Frenche
(1548), writes that "Brassica is
named...in englishe colewurtes, Cole or
keele." Keele or kale being the northern
dialect form of Cole Coleworts are an
important part of the diet in medieval
Europe, forming an important part
of the pottage so commonly referred to
by early writers. Mundi Cursor, in a Northumbrian
poem from about 1300 writes, "He
sent him to the yerd...for to geder tham
sum cale." Coleworts are listed by
Master John Gardener in one of England's
first gardening manuscripts, a work in
verse titled A Feat of Gardening,
circa 1400. One of England's first garden
catalogs, Fromond's, Herbys necessary
for a gardyn by letter (c. 1500) includes
colewort(es) along with a list of many
greens suitable for pottage. Distinct
varieties of coleworts arise at a very
early date. Switzer gives an account of the ancient varieties brassicas
in The Practical Kitchen-Gardener (1727) as well as the parentage
for several varieties of brassica: “The antient Greeks divided
the Brassica into three distinct species; viz. the first, crispa,
with curl’d or short leaves, and but few stalks; the second,
lea, the leaves growing on long stalks, for which it was call’d
cauleda, perhaps our coleworts; and the other, crambe, with smaller
leaves but more indented than any of the former, which undoubtedly
belongs to the borecole, broccoli, or seakele.” Short and
long season coles also seem to be selected at an early date.
John De Trevis, in De proprietatibus
rerum (1398), writes, "Some coole
is Somer coole and some is Wynter Cole"
John Gerard, in the Herball, or Historie of Plants (1597),
lists the "Garden Colewort, Curled Colewort, Red Colewort,
Open Cabbage Cole, Swollen Colewoort, Parsley Colewoort and Sea
Colewoort." By
the middle of the 18th century coleworts are generally recognized as
a distinct variety that resemble an open cabbage while the borecole
or kale are recognized as the curled leaf varieties that look
more like the kale we are familiar with today. The Country
Farm (1616), which is
an English translation of the 16th century French work, Maisons Rustique records: “First
of all we are to speake of Coleworts, both because they are most common,
and also most aboundant of all other sorts of hearbs.” Three
varieties are listed: “Common coleworts called long or greene Coleworts,
Cabbage-coleworts are called white or apple coleworts [and] Red Coleworts.” By
the 18th century the common colewort appears to be a fairly distinct
type, often listed as Dorsetshire Kale.
Bradley writes in The Compleat Seedsman’s Monthly Calendar (1738): “The Colewort,
or wild Cole, never makes an Head or cabbage, but brings
large Leaves, that are very sweet when they are boiled.” Batty
Langley records in New Principles of Gardening (1728): “Colly-flowers
are of the Cole Race, and their Leaves not unlike the Colewort.” Cauliflower
leaves are round with broad veins that are a distinctly lighter
color than the leaves. Using this distinction the plant would
appear very much like the modern collard.
Philip Miller, in the 1768 edition of The Gardeners
Dictionary writes that the "common colewort" is also called
"Dorsetshire kale" and the "curled colewort" is called
"Siberian borecole or Scotch Kale." The Complete Farmer,
by A Society of Gentlemen (1769)
also gives Dorsetshire Kale as a synonym for colewot; “Colewort,or Dorsetshire Kale, is a species of cabbage, formerly much cultivated in gardens, but at present little known, cabbage plants being substituted in its room…it is so hardy that no frost will kill it.”
Most authors observe that the common colewort is disappearing
by the latter half of the 18th century. Philip Miller writes in
the 1754 edition of The Gardeners Dictionary, "The
common Colewort is now almost lost near London, where their Markets
are usually supplied with Cabbage or Savoy Plants, instead of
them." What he is referring to is the
common practice, noted by almost all garden writers, of using cabbage
plants before they head in place of the true colewort. Randolph,
writing in Williamsburg, does list the colewort, saying, "The
common COLEWORTS, should be sown the beginning of July and transplanted." By
1806, when McMahon publishes The American Gardener's Calender,
he writes, that "Savoy, Battersea and Sugar loaf cabbages
are grown for a supply of young greens and when used in that state
they are called coleworts, having totally superseded the true
colewort, which was formerly cultivated for boiled salads." In
1831, Loudon records in An Encyclopedia
of Agriculture, that the true colewort has disappeared. The true
colewort, like the modern collard, was likely a coarser green than what
cabbages would supply. Coleworts also seem to be more common fair for
the poor than the wealthy. Rutter and Carter write in Modern Eden (1767) “The
colewort is another of the cabbage kinds, and is hardier than any other.
When winters are so severe as to destroy the common cabbages, this stands;
and is better for the frost. Some of these should always be raised in
a family kitchen-garden; if the weather proves mild, they may be
eaten by servants; if hard, they will be very useful to the master.”
Coleworts, borecoles and kales (like the modern collard) were
grown as a winter crop and not harvested until after a frost. Mills
records in A New System of Practical Husbandry (1767): “Borecole
is of three sorts, namely, the common borecole, the green borecole,
and the Siberian borecole, which is the curled colewort, by some
called Scotch kale…they should not be eaten before the frost
has rendered them tender; for till then they are tough and bitter.”
Randolph, writing in Williamsburg, does list the colewort, saying; The
commonCOLEWORTS, should be sown the beginning
of July and transplanted. By 1806, when McMahon publishes The
American Gardener’s Calender, he writes; that Savoy,
Battersea and Sugar loaf cabbages are grown for a supply of young
greens and when used in that state they are called coleworts,
having totally superseded the true colewort, which was formerly
cultivated for boiled salads. In 1831, Loudon records
in An Encyclopedia of Agriculture, that the true colewort
has disappeared.
Borecole does not appear as a term for this group until the 18th century
and may represent varieties of colewort imported from Holland.
Borecole derives from the Dutch boerenkool or "peasant's cabbage.quot;
Parkinson writes in Paradisi in Sol (1629) that the English grow
the Ordinary colewort while the others, such as curled, are curiosities
grown by the Dutch. The first use of the word in English literature comes
from John Arbuthnot's Law is a bottomless pit...in the case of...John
Bull (1712): "His children live upon salt herring, sowre crud,
and borecole." The first reference in English gardening books that
I can find comes from Stephen Switzer's Practical Kitchen Gardener
(1727), who writes that there are varieties of borecole "both great,
and red, and curl'd on the edges." The term borecole often seems
to be used for curled or brown (dark purple) varieties of colewort. Gardiner
and Hepburn, in The American Gardener (1804), write that in July
you should, "Sow Borecole alias brown Cole"
The first recognizable kales come from the northern British Isles
and Europe and seem to be used primarily as a garnish, much the
way modern plates are garnished with kales that are seldom eaten.
Switzer records in 1727 (The Practical Kitchen-Gardener): “The
borecole is a hardy coarse plant, and has been cultivated long
with us…and is used all the year as a garniture to dishes
where greens of the same kind are; the French and Dutch cooks boil
it sometimes as they do other coleworts, and often eat it raw with
oil and vinegar, and make much ado about it as an extraordinary
dish; but our English cooks have not that esteem for it as the
others have.” Eleven years later Bradley gives a similar
account in The Compleat Seedsman’s Monthly Calendar (1738)
“Curl’d Coleworts, or Curl’d Worts, is a
Sort of cole with jagged cut Leaves, strip’d with many Colours; it serves
to garnish Dishes, but is never boil’d or eaten, that ever I heard of.”
By the last quarter of the 18th century Scotch Kale becomes one
of the more common kales or borecoles, although it is apparently
a larger plant than the one known today. The
Gardeners Kalendar from The
Encyclopedia of Farming, London (1777) records: “Bore-cole,
or, as it is often called Scotch-Kale, is a very useful plant…there
are two sorts of it, the brown and the green. The plants run up
with very long stems, sometimes three, four, or five feet high.”Scotch
Kale is listed by Miller in the The Gardeners Dictionary
(1768) and McMahon in American Gardener's Calendar (1806) as equivalent
to Siberian Kale. These are two very different kales today. Peter Henderson,
in Gardening For Profit (1867) lists a variety of borecole (kale)
called Dwarf German Greens or "Sprouts" which he describes
as
"bluish-green, slightly colored, resembling somewhat the foliage
of Ruta Baga Turnips." The Siberian Kale we use today is typified
by a bluish-green color and is classed in the Rutabaga (Napus) group
of Brassicas. This is probably the same kale that Jefferson writes
to Bernard McMahon about in 1812 which he calls Sprout Kale and considers
among the most valuable garden plants. J. C. London describes this
kale in An Encyclopedia of Gardening (1822) as “German Kale, known
in Scotland as German greens, German kale, curled kale and curlies. Leaves
are more pointed and grow much longer, margins not so plaited as Scotch
but still with fringed appearance. Chief difference is in furnishing
abundance of side shoots or sprouts for the table.” Jefferson
lists Scotch Kale in 1809 but apparently abandons this variety in favor
of the Sprout Kale after 1812. Scotch Kale is in the oleracea group
of Brassicas and differs from Siberian Kale in darker lighter green
leaves and finer cut leaf margins.
The collard plant we know today is a
relatively modern introduction derived
from open headed cabbages. The oldest
surviving American collard is the Green
Glaze, developed from the Green Glaze
Cabbage, a very loosely headed cabbage,
introduced by Landreth in 1820 (Weaver,
Heirloom Vegetable Gardening,
1997). The word collard is a phonetic
corruption of col'ort (colewort) and first
appears in a British publication titled
Connoisseur (1755), "Fed for
cheapness with nothing but collart-leaves
and chopt straw." The term collard,
or similar words for colewort, is occasionally
used in the 18th century. In The Journal
of Lieut. William Feltman (1781-82)
he records on August 17, 1781 in Hanover
County, Virginia that: "The negroes
here raise great quantities of snaps and
collerds. They have no cabbages here."
There are many references to coleworts
by Virginian diarists, which is an interesting
phenomenon at a time when the original
colewort seems to be disappearing in England.
It is difficult to know exactly what these
references refer to. On one hand, any
open headed cabbage or cabbage harvested
in the immature stage could be called
a colewort. However, while this may be
the case in diary entries, the advertisements
for colewort seeds would seem to refer
to the original colewort, long cultivated
in England. It is also possible that the
colewort in these references refer to
a plant that would be called a kale today.
In the Jones family papers, however, coleworts
are listed separately with Siberian borecole. The
latter is clearly a Kale so a distinction
seems to be made between the two crops.
In Varlo’s A New System of Husbandry
(1785), written in Philadelphia he
gives instructions for planting coleworths
and boorcoles separately, again indicating
a distinction in plant types.
As late as 1837 Eliza Person Mitchell
records in her diary, in North Carolina,
planting collard, coleworts and cabbages.
She repeats this planting scheme in 1838,
’39, ’41, ’42 and 1844 (Ed Davis, Emory and Henry College)
so she clearly sees a difference between
not only cabbages but also collards and
coleworts. A painting by Lucas van Valkenborgh
titled Vegetable Market from
the 16th century shows a cabbage with
an open leafy configuration, which may
represent a colewort, although it could
also be an open headed cabbage.
Landon Carter writes in his diary on August 1, 1764 that he has received
from Liverpool "the large field Colewort called Brassica Arvensis,
I this day sowed some in my garden to see what they are and to find out
their time of sowing, for some I shall also sow early in the spring."
This is likely one of the cow cabbages or tree kales that were often used
as cattle food in Europe. While they are not really suitable for a
kitchen garden, these spectacular plants would be appropriate in a plantation setting.
J. Turnip Cabbage and
Turnip Rooted Cabbage
These plants are among the most ancient of Brassicas. The
Turnip Cabbage, by most authors, is the ancestor of the modern
Kohlrabi and the Turnip Rooted Cabbage is a similar plant that
seems to have disappeared. Pliny describes the ancestor
of the Turnip Cabbage as a“Brassica in which the stem is
thin just above the roots, but swells out in the region that bears
the leaves.” He is likely speaking of a marrow-stem
kale which the Turnip Cabbage or kohlrabi is thought to descend
from. The Turnip cabbage is first illustrated by Jörg
Ziegler for Fuchs’ Codex (ca. 1563), and is labeled Köl
Rúoben. Rúoben is the archaic form of
the modern German Rübe, meaning the vegetable Rape or turnip. Rüb-Kohl
is the Rape Cole or Colerape referred to by early garden writers.
The earliest English differentiation between the Turnip Cabbage
and the Turnip Rooted Cabbage comes in Gerard’s Herball (1597),
who writes; “The first kind of Rape Cole hath one single
long root, garnished with many threddy strings: from which riseth
up a great thick stalke, bigger than a great Cucumber or great
Turnep: at the top whereof shooteth forth great broad leaves.”This
plant he calls the Round rape Cole or Caulorapum rotundum and
his illustration looks very much like a primitive Kohlrabi. The
second sort he calls the Long Rape Cole. “The
second hath a long fibrous root like unto the precedent; the tuberous
stalke is very great and long, thrusting forth in some few places
here and there, small foot stalks; where upon doe grow smooth leaves,
slightly indented about the edges.” This would appear
to be a marrow stem kale. Another illustration of the Round
rape Cole from the late 16th century is found in the Clutius
Watercolors, a series of illustrations done by an unknown
artist(s) for the Dutch pharmacist Theodorus Clutius. This
illustration looks remarkably like the modern Kohlrabi. Parkinson,
in Paradisi in Sol (1629) uses the illustration of the Köl
Rúoben from Fuchs Codex in his illustrated
guide to the Brassicas as variety number 8. Curiously, he
does not identify it in the key to these illustrations. In
the text he describes the Colerape, writing that it “beareth
a white heade, or headed stalke above the ground, as bigge as a
reasonable Turnep.”
Bradley identifies the Cole rape as the Cole Turnep or what became
known as the Turnep Cabbage (kohlrabi) in The Compleat
Seedsman’s Monthly Calendar (1738): “Cole Rape,
or Cole Turnep, is rais’d in some Gardens, and the Turnep-like
part boiled and eaten; this Plant has a large Bunch or Knob as
big as a large Turnep, just above the ground, and upon that there
grow Leaves like Coleworts.”
In the 18th and early 19th centuries the classification
of Turnep Cabbage and Turnep-rooted Cabbage becomes confused, with
different authors apparently using different names for the
same plant. Philip Miller, in the 1754 edition of the Gardeners
Dictionary lists both the Turnep-cabbage (BRASSICA gongylodes) and
the turnep-rooted Cabbage (BRASSICA radice
napiformi). He describes only the Turnep Cabbage and
says it is spaced in the garden at only 2” apart and; “In
winter they will be fit for Use; when they should be cut off, and
the stems pulled out of the Ground, and thrown away, as being good
for nothing after the heads are cut off.” Apparently
these plants are used only for greens. In the 1768 edition
of The Gardeners Dictionary he describes the “BRASSICA
gongylodes as the Cabbage with a taper stalk,” saying it
is generally know by the name of Rape or Cole Seed and
no longer uses the term Turnep Cabbage for this plant. BRASSICA radice
napiforma he describes as the “Cabbage with a round
fleshy stalk,” and calls it the Turnep-rooted Cabbage. However,
Gordon, in his Catalogue of seeds (1771) and Abercrombie,
in Every Man his own Gardener (1782), distinguish between
the two in that the Turnep-Cabbage produces a turnep above
ground while the Turnep-rooted Cabbage produces a turnep below
ground. This would seem to be the reverse of Miller’s
names.
In America Thomas Bridgeman, in the Young Gardener’s
Assistant (1850, New York), writes of: “The Brassica
Rapa, or Turnip Cabbage, produces its bulb or protuberance, on
the stem above ground, immediately under the leaves. Brassica
Napus, or Turnip rooted Cabbage, has an oblong thick root in
the form of a winter Radish.”
By 1806, when Bernard McMahon publishes The American Gardener’s
Calendar, these plants are classed as Brassica oleracea
Napobrassica. He distinguishes between the two in
this way: “The turnip-cabbage produces its bulb or protuberance,
which approaches to roundness, on the stem above ground, immediately
under the leaves. The turnip-rooted cabbage has an oblong,
thick root, pretty much of the form of the winter radish, but
very large.” He lists the turnip-rooted Cabbage
as the variety Napus sativa. Miller writes that Napus
sativa is a variety of the former Turnep Cabbage which he
identifies as the Garden Navew and treats it as a turnip.
The Navew is also known as the French Turnip and classified by
Thomas Bridgeman, in the Young Gardener’s Assistant (1850,
New York) as “Brassica Napus, variety esculenta…held
in great esteem by the French…is called the Navet, or French
Turnip”(Miller’s Garden Navew or Napus
sativa). The Navew may be a primitive turnip closed
allied to Rape. The Complete Farmer, by A Society
of Gentlemen (1769) gives this description of the Rape plant: “Cole
or Rape, the name of a plant greatly cultivated, both on account
of its seed, being that from whence the rape-oil is drawn; and
also for feeding cattle. The botanists call it napus sylvestris,
or wild navew.”
The first use of the term Kohl Rabi in England comes from Charles
Vancouver’s General view of the agriculture of the county
of Devon (1808) in which he describes; “The khol rabi,
or above-ground turnip cabbage.” Fearing Burr, in Field
and Garden Vegetables of America (1865), uses Kohl Rabi and
Turnip cabbage as synonyms. The navew and the turnip-rooted
cabbage are not listed and the French Turnip is now used as a synonym
for the Rutabaga. In The Vegetable Garden (1885),
Kohl-Rabi is listed without the synonym of Turnip Cabbage and the Turnip-rooted
Cabbage is used as a synonym for the Swedish Turnip or
Ruta-Baga. Robinson writes that “the varieties
of Turnip-rooted Cabbages [Rutabaga] differ from the Kohl-Rabi
in that, instead of having the stem swollen over-ground, they produce,
partially buried in the soil.” He also gives the synonyms
for the Rutabaga as the French Chou-navet and the German Kohlrübe,
further confusing the terminology for the Turnip Cabbage (Kohlrabi)
and Rutabaga. The 1563 Codex illustration of the Köl
Rúoben shows a plant with leaf scars throughout the
bulb, like a Kohlrabi; the Rutabaga has no leaf scars on the bulb.
A final bit of confusion, as if more was needed; Miller’s
Turnip Cabbage is given the species name gongylodes. This
was not a kohlrabi. This name disappears and then re-emerges
in the 20th century as the species name for kohlrabi.
We are likely dealing with three different plants in the above
descriptions. The Turnep-rooted Cabbage listed by Gordon,
Abercrombie and McMahon is the Long Rape Cole listed by Gerard. By
the 18th century it seems to be used exclusively as cattle feed
and there is probably no approximation of it among modern vegetables. Gordon
(1771) gives Reynolds Turnep-rooted Cabbage as a synonym
for the Turnip-rooted Cabbage. Washington plants Reynold’s
Turnip-rooted Cabbage in 1788. Landon Carter lists Reynolds
turnep among the many varieties he uses for feeding cattle.
Miller’s “Turnep Cabbage” is likely a Rape or
a marrow stem kale. It may have been similar to McMahon’s Jerusalem
Kale and Burr’s Neapolitan Borecole of which
he writes: The swollen portion of the stem is of a fleshy,
succulent character, and is used in the manner of Kohl Rabi, between
which and the Cabbage it appears to be intermediate. Its
primary use is not for the stem but for the leaves as recounted
in Vilmorins, The Vegetable Garden (1885): The Neapolitan
Kohl-Rabi with curled leaves is, in fact, of more account as Borecole
than as Kohl-Rabi, as the swelling of the stem is often of very
small dimensions.
The Turnep-rooted Cabbage listed by Miller and the Turnep Cabbage
listed by Gordon, Abercrombie, McMahon and others is analogous
to the modern Kohlrabi.
While the Turnip-rooted Cabbage seems to be well known in Virginia
as cattle food the Turnip Cabbage or Kohlrabi was likely quite
uncommon. Landon Carter plants the “Turnep Cabbage” in
his vegetable garden, recording in his diary on Feb. 18, 1770 that
it will not stand the winter even though he had it covered in November. Randolph
provides very little help on the subject. He writes in A
Treatise on Gardening (1793), “There’s a TURNEP
CABBAGE, which being very strong is fit only for soup.” This
is a direct quote from Miller’s, The Gardeners Dictionary (1754),
and the phrasing makes one wonder if he ever tried this vegetable
himself. Mary Randolph, in Virginia Housewife (1824)
gives a recipe for the Turnip rooted Cabbage that sounds
very much like the preparation that is used for Kohlrabi today; “The
cabbage growing at the top is not good; cut the root in slices
an inch thick, peel off the rind, and boil the slices in a large
quantity of water, till tender; serve it up hot, with melted butter
poured over it.”It is just as possible that this is a reference
to the Rutabaga.
The Turnep Cabbage of the 18th century was apparently a coarser,
stronger flavored plant than the modern Kohlrabi. It probably
had a limited use as cattle feed. C.Varlo in A New System
of Husbandry, Philadelphia, 1785, writes: “Cabbage-turnep
and turnep-rooted cabbage, American and white Scotch cabbage, and
Anjou boorcole, must now be sown, [May] …as they are chiefly
intended for cattle.” In appearance, the modern Kohlrabi
is a good approximation of the Turnep Cabbage.
K. Turnip
The turnip is another ancient vegetable. The
oil seed form of turnip is mentioned in
Sanskrit records in India as long ago
as 2000-1500 BC. The modern forms of turnip
apparently have two places of origin.
The turnip-rape, used for the oil, and
later for greens, appear to evolve in
Afghanistan and Pakistan while the turnip
that is used for its root comes from the
eastern Mediterranean. It was probably
brought to England from France during
the Roman Conquest. Pliny writes of a
turnip weighing forty pounds and they
seem to be associated with poverty in
Rome. In the first century C.E. Pliny described long turnips,
flat turnips and round turnips. He wrote of turnips under the names rapa and napus. In
Middle English napus became nepe or naep; this term preceded
with turn (made round), became the word turnip.
The turnip was likely introduced to England with the Romans; however,
the first documented use of the turnip in Europe is not until the
13th century when the turnip-rape is introduced. This was likely
a turnip grown for its seed which was used as a lamp oil rather
than for the edible root. The predecessor
of the modern turnip does not appear until late in the 15th century
and remains a very minor crop until the 17th century.
One of the earliest references to turnip
in England comes in Sir Thomas Elyot's The Castel of Helth (1533),
who writes, "Turnepes beinge welle boyled
in water, and after with fatte fleshe,
noryseth moche." By 1597 Gerard writes
in the Herball, "There be
sundry sorts of Turneps...some with round
roots globe fashion; others ovall or peare
fashion; and another sort longish or somewhat
like a Radish." The small white is
the preferred variety according to Gerard
who writes, "The small Turnep is
like unto the first described, saving
it is lesser. The root is much sweeter
in taste, as my selfe hath often proved."
Parkinson, in Paradisi in Sol (1629)
writes, "there are divers sorts of
Turneps, as white, yellow and red,"
saying the white is most common and of
the white varieties the flat variety is preferred
over the round.
The yellow variety is likely the French Turnip or Navet. The
Country Farm (1616), a translation of the 16th century French
work, Maisons Rustique, records: “Turneps (called in Latine
Rapa) are of two sorts, the round and the long and they differ
not much from Napes and Navets, save only in greatnesse and tast:
For Turneps are a great deale bigger, and of a more pleasant
taste. Napes and Navets (called of the Latin Napi) are
two divers sorts of one kind…differing in taste, colour,
and greatness for Napes are greater and drawing toward a yellow
colour, lesse pleasing the taste: Navets are lesse, white, and
a great deale more savorie.”
The Navet may be an intermediary form of rape or turnip and is
called, by the English, Navew (Navewe, Naphew). Turner writes
in the Herball (1557) of the Navet; “I have hearde
sume cal it in englishe a turnepe, and other some a naved or navet,
it maye be called also longe Rape or navet gentle.” Turner’s
use of longe Rape sounds very much like Gerards Long
Rape Cole, however, Gerard describes the Navew or Navet gentle
as a separate plant species: “There be sundrie kindes of
Nape or Navews, degenerating from the kindes of Turnep.” The
genus for the Navew in the 17th and 18th centuries is Napus. This
is now the species for Rape. The French navet means turnip,
while navette means rape.
The confusion between Navews and turnips dates to the earliest
English garden works. Thomas Hill writes in The Gardeners
Labyrinth (1577); “The property of the ground doth alter
the Nauewe into a Turnup, and Turnup into a Nauewe.” Hill
also recognizes the similarity of these plants and the rape: “The
Rapes be not much differing from the Navews and Turnups, saving
that these be bigger…and in the eating pleasanter then the
Navews.” The confusion lasts well into the 18th century
when the Navew is reclassified by Linnaeus from the genus Napus
to Brassica. Miller, in the 1754 edition of The Gardeners
Dictionary does not agree with the Linnaeun classification
and writes; “This [Turnip Cabbage] hath been lately joined
to the Napus Sativa, or Garden Navew, supposing them to be the
same species…but as the Garden Navew approaches nearer the
Turnep than the Cabbage, so I shall treat them under the title
of RAPA.”
It enjoyed a wide popularity in the 17th century
and seems, at least in England, to have fallen out of favor by
the end of the 18th century. In the middle of
the 18th century James Justice records in The Scots gardiners
director (1759) “Long French Turnip or Navew: the long
French Turnip is the best for seasoning Soups or Hodge-podge, for
two of these in seasoning will give a higher Flavour than a Dozen
of other Turnips, though they are neither fit to be eaten raw or
boiled, but are for tasting Soups.” Mawe records in The
Universal Gardener and Botanist (1797): “Long-rooted
French Turnep, A long, small, spindle-rooted Turnep, of but little
merit except for soups, and should be used while young, other wise
it becomes stringy and hard.” In the next century J.C.
Loudon writes in An Encyclopedia of Gardening (1834): “The
French, or navet, is of excellent flavor. It was anciently
used throughout the south of Europe, and was more cultivated in
this country a century ago than it is now.” In the
United States country Thomas Bridgeman records in The Young
gardener’s assistant (1853): “Brassica Napus,
var. esculenta, is sometimes cultivated as a salad herb. It
is held in great esteem by the French as a culinary vegetable,
and is called the Navet, or French Turnep.”
One of the last English reference to the Navew or Navet that I
can find comes in Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management (1861)
where she describes “The French Navet…is a variety
of the turnip; but instead of being globular, has more the shape
of a carrot.”
In the 17th century the turnip becomes an important food
for cattle and results in a dramatic change in husbandry. Until this time
most cattle were slaughtered in the fall because there was no reliable
food source to carry large herds over the winter. The turnip provided
winter fodder and allowed cattle to be kept reliably year round. It was
not until the early 18th century that turnip culture, as a field crop,
was adopted in England to a significant degree. It is the larger, longer
and generally yellow turnips that are used for field culture. John Mortimer
writes in The Whole Art of Husbandry (1707), "Yellow Turneps...are
commonly sown in gardens, but are of very great advantage to be sown in
Fields, not only for the use of the Kitchen, but for Food for Cattle in
Winter." This culture becomes so important that King George II has
a tract prepared on the field culture of turnips for livestock. Miller
writes in The Gardeners Dictionary (1754), "They [turnips]
are sown in great Plenty in the Fields near London; not only for the Use
of the Kitchen, but for Food for Cattle in Winter, when other Food fails;
and this Way is become a great Improvement to barren sandy Lands, particularly
in Norfolk, where, by the Culture of Turneps, many Persons have doubled
the yearly Value of the Ground." Because turnips grow well on sandy,
infertile soils, such as those found in Norfolk, England, this area was
responsible for the development of several varieties of large cattle feeding
turnips that retain the name of Norfolk turnips well into the next century.
The field culture of turnips is still fairly recent in England in the
18th century, or as Miller writes, "It is not many Years since the
Practice of sowing turneps, for feeding of Cattle, has been of general
Use: how it happed'd that this Improvement should have been so long neglected
in every Part of Europe, is not easy to determine...yet this Plant was
not much cultivated in the Fields till of late Years; nor is the true
Method of cultivating Turneps yet know, or, at least, not practis'd in
some of the distant Counties of England, at this time."
Of the turnips used for the table, the small white and
the purple top are much preferred. Miller writes in The Gardeners
Dictionary (1754): "the first [round
white] and third [round purple] Sorts here mention'd, which are chiefly
cultivated for the Table in England. The yellow Sort, and that with
long Roots, were formerly more cultivated than at present;
for it is now very rare to see either of these brought to the Markets." Most
turnips are sown for a winter crop, the Dutch turnip is the primary
summer crop, sown in the spring.
The most popular winter
turnip is the purple. The round red turnip
listed by Wilson is a large winter turnip
that, according to Philip Miller in the
1768 edition of The Gardeners Dictionary,
is being replaced by the Green turnip.
The Hanover turnip is probably the result
of the study sponsored by King George
II and thereby bear the Hanover name.
It is a tankard type (long turnip) used
for cattle food. Most of the other turnips
listed, especially the Norfolk, Large
English,and Large Field are field turnips
intended for cattle.
Randolph, in A Treatise
on Gardening (1793), writes, "The
white and purple rooted Turnep, are the
two sorts chiefly cultivated in England
for the table." This is likely the
case in the colonies as well. The White Egg Turnip is probably
the best approximation of a short season white turnip of the 18th
century. Winter turnips are best represented by the Purple Top
White Globe and the Gillfeather, which is probably similar to the
Green turnip.
The Rutabaga or Swedish Turnip is a result
of a cross between the turnip and the cabbage that may have occurred
in Europe as early as the Middle Ages. If differs from the turnip
in having smooth foliage rather than the somewhat bristly foliage
of the turnip and is generally a yellow fleshed root while the
turnip is generally a white fleshed root. The Rutabaga or Swedish
Turnip is first described by the Swiss botanist, Casper Bauhin
in 1620. It does not appear in England until the last quarter of
the 18th century, probably introduced between 1775 and 1780.
It
appears to be unknown in the American colonies until very late
in the 18th century. Peter Kalm, during his travels in America,
records on March 27, 1749: “Nobody around here had ever heard
of rutabagas or Swedish turnips.”
Thomas Jefferson is one
of the first Americans to grow the Rutabaga. In a June 8, 1795
letter to John Taylor he writes: “I enclose you a few seeds
of the Rutabaga, or Swedish winter turnep. This is the plant which
the English Government thought of value enough to be procured at
public expense from Sweden, cultivated and dispersed. A Mr. Strickland,
an English gentleman from Yorkshire, lately here, left a few seeds
with me, of which I impart to you. He tells me it has such advantage
over the common turnep that it is spreading rapidly over England & will
become their chief turnep.”
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