Yields vary from a few tons to 25 tons an acre; even larger yields have been secured from small areas of high fertility. With approved methods it should not be less than 15 tons an acre. A Colorado grower in 1908 averaged 25 tons an acre on a 12-acre field and the net returns were $340 an acre. This, however, is much beyond the returns of most growers. The eleventh census report states that the net profit an acre of the 77,000 acres grown in the United States is $118. The large proportion of early cabbage grown in the South is doubtless responsible to a great extent for this good showing. It is generally conceded that early cabbage is more profitable than late. Northern growers often clear $200 an acre. Prices for the late crop are extremely variable. When sold out of the field the price ranges from $2 to $15, and out of storage from $8 to $60; when sold by the head, the price runs from $2 to $6 a hundred, and 60 cents to $3 a crate or a barrel.

Chicago Wholesale Cabbage Prices*

The usual estimates for the cost of producing and marketing an acre of cabbage are too low; $125 an acre for early cabbage and at least one-third this amount for late are not too high. Large net returns are seldom secured without a liberal outlay. With favorable markets or good shipping facilities it is unquestionably one of our most profitable vegetables.