Specifically, divination by means of. Most known references are Scottish and Irish, although there are scattered mentions of it across England. Usually the participants were girls. The method is to go out on Halloween and pull a cabbage as the clock strikes twelve. Depending on the custom the result is either an image of a future spouse (as referenced by Ella Leather), or the shape and size of the cabbage root will indicate the nature of the partner - soil clinging to the roots indicates a rich man, for example.
The most famous reference to divination by cabbage is in Robert Burns' poem "Halloween":
Then, first and foremost, through the kail,
Their stocks maun a' be sought ance;
They steek their een, and graip and wale,
For muckle anes and straught anes.
Poor hav'rel Will fell aff the drift,
And wander'd through the bow-kail,
And pou't, for want o' better shift,
A runt was like a sow-tail,
Sae bow't that night.
The most famous reference to divination by cabbage is in Robert Burns' poem "Halloween":
Then, first and foremost, through the kail,
Their stocks maun a' be sought ance;
They steek their een, and graip and wale,
For muckle anes and straught anes.
Poor hav'rel Will fell aff the drift,
And wander'd through the bow-kail,
And pou't, for want o' better shift,
A runt was like a sow-tail,
Sae bow't that night.
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