236 
Storing or Preserving during Winter, “ Cauliflowers may be 
preserved for a considerable time by various methods. About 
the end of the month of October pick out all those that have 
close and well-shaped heads, lift them carefully with a spade, 
dress off most of the leaves above the flower, remove them to an 
open-shed, and lay them in by the heels, as it is called, among 
rotten tan or dry mould, place them closely together, but not so 
as to touch each other. In this state, if kept free of damp, they 
will continue good for some time after those in the open air are 
exhausted. ‘They may also be carefully taken up, and stored in 
the same way in the borders of any peach-house or vinery, ob- 
serving to shut up the lights during rain, and also on frosty nights, 
They may also be protected in deep garden-frames, or they may 
be taken up in a dry day and carried to an airy shed, and tied in 
pairs, and hung up on poles or strong nails with their heads 
downwards ; or they may be cut over about six inches below the 
flower, and a few of their leaves left to be wrapped round them, 
and buried about eighteen inches below the surface, in a dry 
bank or among sand, in a cellar or out-house. 
“ The most successful method we have practised for preserv- 
ing Cauliflower in perfection through the winter months is to cut 
them in dry weather, dress off all their leaves, put them in an 
airy place to dry for a day or two, then bury them in casks or 
boxes amongst bog-mould, composed of vegetable matter, such 
as is dry for fuel. This kind is antiseptic and capable of resist- 
ing putrefaction, particularly when excluded from atmospheric 
air. Cauliflower preserved in this way should be well washed 
previously to using, as they become black when buried any length 
of time; not that such blackness proceeds from any decompo- 
sition of the heads, but arises from the more subtile particles of 
the mould adhering to their surface.” Mackintosh. 
A method of preserving Cauliflower is mentioned, Cal. hort. 
soc. mem. vol, 1. p. 129, and which consists in burying the entire 
plant in a pit about eighteen inches deep, dug along the bottom 
of a wall. On a dry day the plants are taken up and the leaves 
are wrapped round the head or flower, they are then deposited in 
the trench, the heads sloping downwards and the roots extending 
upwards, so that the roots of one layer cover the tops of another. 
Next the whole are covered closely with earth, sloping it from 
the wall and beating it smooth with the back of the spade so that 
the rain may run off. In this way they are preserved from No- 
vember to January. 
To save Seed. ‘ Mark and leave some prime plants of the 
thoroughly nursed early and main crops in May and June, when 
the flower heads are in highest perfection, as those of late pro- 
duction will not ripen seed effectually. The stools will afford 
ripe seed in September, when be careful to watch the chaffinches, 
green-birds, &c. to gather the branches as the seed upon them 
ripens. Lay them elevated from the ground in some sunny, airy 
situation, to dry and harden to full maturity ; after which let the 
seed be beaten or rubbed out, cleaned and sifted from the husky 
parts, spread on a cloth to dry the whole equally, and then put 
up for sowing the following year.” Abercrombie. 
* * Brocoli, (Eng.) Broccoli (Fr.) Italienesche Kohl (Ger.) 
Cavolo Romano, or Broccoli (Ital.) (Brassica oleracea, F. bo- 
trytis. * * asparagoides, D. C. 1. c. ` 
Brocoli is scarcely distinguishable from Cauliflower. The 
stem is usually taller ; the leaves are more elongated; the pe- 
duncles are fleshy at the top, bearing small flower-buds, and of a 
hardier constitution. The varieties are divided into the White 
and Purple Brocoli; there are numerous sub-varieties of each. 
In Miller’s Dictionary, under the article Brassica, the few 
Brocolis that were then known are supposed to have proceeded 
from the Cauliflower, which was originally imported from the Isle 
of Cyprus about the middle of the 16th century. Miller mentions 
the White and Purple or Maltese Brocoli as coming from Italy, and 
CRUCIFERÆ. LXXXIII. Brassica. 
it is conjectured that from these two sorts all the subsequent kinds 
have arisen, either by accidental or premeditated impregnation, 
Miller mentions the Roman Neapolitan and Black Brocoli as being 
in use in his time, but he says of those the Roman is the best. 
Mr. Neill observes, that no culinary plant is so liable to sport 
as Brocoli; so that new kinds, slightly different, are conti- 
nually coming into notice or favour, and as speedily sinking into 
neglect. Maher observes (Hort. trans. 1. p. 116.) that as all 
plants of the Brassica tribe become less alkalescent and more 
palatable in proportion as they approach to a pale or white co- 
lour, such varieties of Brocoli will undoubtedly be preferable to 
purple ones if they turn out equally hardy. An able writer on 
this subject, H. Ronalds, of Brentford, has given (Hort. trans. 3.) 
a description of different varieties of Brocoli, with an account of 
the method of cultivating them ; from this and any new addi- 
tional information on this subject, in Loudon’s encycl. gard., we 
shall chiefly compose this article. 
§. Varieties and their Culture. 
1 Purple, Cape, or Autumnal Brocoli. This has a close com- 
pact head, of a beautiful colour; the leaves are almost entire, 
erect, concave, lobed at the base, and much waved, short, and 
regularly surrounding the head ; the veins and midrib are stained 
with purple, which stain is a test of its being true ; the head is 
exposed to the view in growing ; in general it is not very large, as 
it enlarges the projecting parts of the flower shew a greenish- 
white colour mixed with purple. When boiled the whole head 
becomes green. If the season is showery, and this variety 1s 
planted in good ground, it comes as large as Cauliflower. , 
Cult. Sown about the middle of May or beginning of June, it 
will produce in regular succession from August till December, or 
until the frost destroys the heads. When sown in July or Au- 
gust, if the winter is mild, it will bring good heads in spring. 
When sown in the beginning of September and then preserved in 
frames as Cauliflowers, fine heads may be expected in the months 
of June or July. Thus by good management this kind may be 
in use the greater part of the year, but it is not hardy enough to 
be depended on in the winter months. The plants grow from 
one foot to a foot and a half, and should be placed about two 
feet apart in every direction. 
Maher’s mode of treating the Purple Brocoli is as follows. 
Three crops are sown annually : the first between the 12th and 
18th of April, a second between the 18th and 24th of May, the 
third between the 19th and 25th of August; these successive 
crops supply the family from September till the end of May. 
The seeds are sown very thinly on a border of very rich light 
earth, Not a weed is suffered to grow, and when the plants 
have from eight to ten leaves, which is in about a month, they 
are finally transplanted, two feet asunder every way, ina piece of 
sandy loam, which has been well prepared by digging, and en- 
riched by a large proportion of very rotten dung, frequently 
turned over to pick out every sort of grub or insect. The 
ground is kept clean by frequent hoeing, and the loose surface 1S 
drawn round the stems into a heap. The second crop is treate 
exactly as the first, but the weaker plants are left in the seed- 
bed eight or ten days longer to gain strength. They are then 
transplanted from the bed into eighteen sized pots filled with rich 
earth, then placing them close to each other in the shade, and duly 
watering the plants till they begin to grow freely. After this the 
pots are plunged in the open ground two feet distance each way; 
and about three inches under the common level of the ground, 
by this means a basin is formed round each plant, to retain any 
water given to them when necessary until the autumnal rains 
commence, when the basins are filled up by drawing the earth 
round each plant, at the same time pressing it firmly down, t° 
prevent the wind from shaking them, A few of these sometimes 
