Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(US) a beating; thus put through a course of sprouts/put through the sprouts v., to beat, to flog, to subject to intense, harsh discipline.

1853		Life in Boston & N.Y. (Boston, MA) 8 Oct. n.p.: If [...] they don’t abandon their position in future, they will get put through a course of the worst kind of sprouts.
1855		‘Q.K. Philander Doesticks’ Doesticks, What He Says 169: Said he thought I’d do, and told the rest to put me through the sprouts.
1856		G.G. Foster N.Y. by Gas-Light (1990) 186: Zerubbabel, thrust into a dark and dreary hall, was left [...] to recall at his leisure the process of being put though a course of sprouts.
1871		O.E. Wood West Point Scrap-Book 229: They put me through a course of sprouts.
1905		‘Central Connecticut Word-List’ in DN III:i 21: sprouts, n. To put one through a course of sprouts is to make one do certain hard things, or to subject one to a course of discipline.
1931		(con. 1910s) C.W. Willemse Behind The Green Lights 155: I am going to put you through a course of sprouts, anyway.