A Survey of 18th- and 19th-Century Food Preservation Techniques in Philadelphia 2.

The American Practical Cyclopaedia (1866) includes specific instructions for storing

cabbages.

To Keep Cabbages in Winter: Cut the heads out with two

or three courses of outside leaves upon them, fold close to

the head, pack them in barrels or boxes, set them in a cellar,

if the cellar is dry, keep outside leaves on top of the

cabbage, to exclude enough air to prevent wilting. It is

better still to pack the cabbage heads as above with nice

damp moss…it will preserve the cabbage just sufficiently

damp and fresh all winter. Beets, carrots, celery, etc., may

also be kept finely this way.53