'- - 



H - 



■ -i- ■ 



-1- 



■ - ) 



BRA 



' alrer.-. This grows naturdly on'thc fca-fl-iore, near" 

 Dover. It hach a perennial branching ftalk, ia which 

 /. it difFcrs fronn all the other fpecies. I have continued 

 thele. three or four years» and have eaten the young 



■ flioots after they had been much f"rozen, when they 

 ' were very fv/cet ami good; but at other times they 



are "very'ilrong and i'tringy. In very fevere winters, 

 when the other forts are dellroyed, this is a necefliiry 

 plant, for the mod fevere froftsdo.npt injure it. The 

 leaves of this are inclining to a purple colour, and 

 are placed alternately on the branches.' The flbwer- 

 Italks grow from the end of the bVaricIies, and fpread 



■ out horizontally, but thofe which arife from the 

 ceriter of the plants, grow ereft, and feldom put out 



branches. .."'■-.. • 



"The third fort, which is the Cauliflower, has been 

 . fuppofed a variety of the common Cabbage-, but from 



more than fifty years experience in cultivating thefe 

 •; ' plants, I could never find the leaft appearance of 

 '/either fpeciea approaching each other; and they are 



fo different in their leaves, as to be eafily diftinguiffied 

 { by perfons of ilcill, when the plants' are young. Eu;^ 

 , tiiere is one cflential difference between them in their 



■ flower-ftems ; for the common Cabbage puts out one 

 .;■ upright ftem from the center of the Cabbage, which 



. afterward divides into feveral branches, whereas the 



' Cauliflov/er fends out many flower-ftems from the 



, part which is eaten; which is only a compafl'col- 



, l^dion of the heads of thefe flalks, w^hich afteward 



dfvides into fo many items, branching out into many 



; fpreading flioots, fo as to form a large fpreading head 



\, when in fioW^r, l)ut ne\yr;.rifes pyramidically like the 



;--Cabbaoe. -> *' '•x^ ,':-:• ^..- / ■ ■ ■ 



The two forts of Broccoli I take to be only varieties 

 ^,^of: the Cauliflower, for although thefe may with care 

 t^^bg^kept difcind, yet I doubt, if they were to fl:and 

 i; near each other for feeds, if they would not interm/ix; 

 .'j-mpd.I arh the rather inclined to believe this, from the 

 various changes which I have obferved in all thefe 

 ' : ;.fdrts; for I have frequently had Caviliflowers of a green 

 .t^coloUr, with flower-buds regularly formed at the ends 

 r of the flioots, as thofe of Broccoli, thouo;h the colour 

 . was, different ; and the white Broccoli approaches fo 

 ■ .near to the Caulifl-ower^ as to be with difficulty dif- 

 tinguiflied from it ; yet*when thefe are cultivated with 

 ' care, and never fuffered to Hand near each other, 

 ■'when left to produce feeds, they may be kept very 

 diitind: in the fame garden; for the variations of thele 

 plants is not occafioned from the foil, but the mixing 

 of the farina of the flowers with each other, where 

 they^ are planted near together; therefore thofe perfons 

 who are curious to prefei-ve the feveral varieties dif- 

 .tinft, fliould never" fufter the different kinds to fl:and 

 near each other for feed. . " 



, The Cauliflower was firfl: brought to England from 

 the ifland of Cpyrus, where I have been informed 

 ' tlicy are in very great perfeftion at prefent : but it is 

 fuppofed, they were originally brought thither from 

 fome other country : mofl: of the old writers mention 

 ' it to have been brought from that ifland, to the dif- 

 ferent parts of Europe, fo'that from thence all t!::e 

 gardens in Europe have been fupplied ; and althouc^h 

 this plant v/as cultivated in a few Enghfli gardens, 

 long fince, yet it was ngt brought to any degree of 

 'perfection, till about 1680, at leaft: not to be fold in 

 the markets; and fince the year 1700, they have been 

 . fo much improved in England, as that Hich of them 

 as before were greatly admired, would at prefent be 

 little regarded. 

 - This plant has been much more improved in Eno-- 

 r.land, than in any other parts of Europe. In France' 

 . they rarely have Cauliflowers till near Michaelmas, 

 and I-L.lland is generally fupplied wath them from 



In many parts of Germany there was non 



and 



England. 



r 





t>T them cultivated till within a few years pafl: ; and 

 moll parts of Europe are fupplied with feeds from 



hence.' ' " 



T!ie eiglith fort, which is generally known by the 

 title of Rape or Cole Seed, is niuch cultivated in the 



ifle of Ely, and fome other parts of England for its 



R A 



", . feed, from which the Rape Oil is drav/n ; and it hath 

 .alfo been cultivated of late years in other places, 

 for feeding of cattle, to great advantage. This hath 

 been lately joined to the Napus Sativa, or Garden 

 Navew, fuppoflng them to be the fame fpecies ; but 

 , I have cultivated both forts more than twenty years, 

 and could never obferve either of them to vary ; in- 

 deed the whole appearance of the plants, is fufficient 

 to determine them as difl:in6l fpecies ; but as the 



■ Garden Navew approaches nearer the Turnep than 

 the Cabbaf^fe, fo I fliall treat of that under the title 



of RaPA'. ' . . : -.i: .-:..; 



The Cole Seed,when cultivated for feeding of cattle, 

 fliould be Ibwn about the middle of June. The 

 ground for this fliould be prepared in the fame 

 manner as for Turneps. The quantity of; feeds for 

 ar> acre, of land, is from fix to eight pounds, and- as 

 the price of the feeds is not great, fo it is better to 

 allow eight pounds ; for if the plants are too clofe in 

 any part, they may be eafily thinned when the ground 



^_is hped., :.. "When the plants have put out fix leaves, 

 they \yill be fit to hoe, which mufl: be performed in 



jhe fame manner as is pra6tifed for Turneps, with 

 this difference only, of leaving thefe much nearer to- 

 gether; for as they have fibrous roots and flendcr 

 Italks, fo^ they do not require near fo nuich room. 



-Thefe plants fliould have a fecbnd hoeing, about five 

 or fix weeks after the firft, which, if well pertbrmed 

 in dry weather,, will entirely deftroy the weeds, fo 



" they will require no farther culture^ . By the middle 

 of November thefe will b*e grown large enough for 

 feeding, when, if there is a fcarcity of fodder, this 



\m^Y be either cut or fed down ; but where there is 

 not an immediate w^jit of food, it had better be kept 

 as a referve for hard weather, or fpring feed, when 

 there may "be a fcarcity of other green food. If the 



I 



I 



t 

 I 



headg ar6 cut off, and the ftalks left in the ground, 

 ,. they will flioot again early in the fpring, and produce 

 . a good fecondi crop in 'April, which m^ be either 

 ' fed off, or permitted to run to feeds, as is the praftice 

 . where this is- cultivated for the feeds : but if the firfl: 

 is fed down, there ihouldbe care taken that the cattle 

 . do not deffroy their ftem.s, or pull them out of the 

 , ground- As. this plant is fo hardy as not to be dc- 

 Itrdyed by frofl:, fo it is of great fervice in hard win- 

 ters for feeding of ewes ; for when the ground is fo 

 - hard frozen, as that Turneps cannot be taken up, 

 ^ thefe plants may be cut off for a confl^nt fupply. 

 In feveral places v/here I have fown this feed, I have 

 found that one acre of land will produce as much 

 food, as almofl: two acres .of Turneps ; and this will 

 aflbrd late food after .the Turneps are run to feed ; 

 and if it is afterward permitted to fl:and for feed, one 

 acre will produce as much as, at a moderate compu- 

 . tation, will fell for five pounds, clear of charges. 

 Partridges, pheaflmts, turkeys, and mofl: other fowl, 

 are very fond of this plant; fo, that v/herever it is 

 cultivated, if there are any birds in the neighbour- 

 hood, they will confl:antly lie among thefe plants. 

 The feeds of this plant are fown in gardens for 

 v/interand fpring fillacfs, this being one of the fmall 

 iailad-herbs. 



The common white, red,, flat, and long-fided Cab- 

 bages are chiefly cialtivated for winter ute : the feeds 

 of thefe forts muft be fown the end of March, or 

 beginning of April, in beds of good frefli earth ; and 

 in May, when the young plants v/ill have about eight 

 leaves, they fliould be pricked, out into fliady bor- 

 ders, about three inches fquarc, that they may ac- 

 quire flrength, and to prevent their growing Ion 

 ftianked. ■ ; , 



About the beginning of June you muft tranfplant 

 them out,, where they are to remain for o-ood (which 





in the kitchen-gardens near London, is commonly 

 between Cauliflowers, Arrichokes, &c. at about two 

 feet and a half difl:ance in the rows ;) but if they are 

 planted for a full crop in a clear fppt of ground, the 

 diflanccfrom rov\^ to row fliould be three feet and a 

 half, and in the rows two feet and a half afunder : if 

 the fcafon fliould prove dry when they are tranfplanted 



out, 



