84 



THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



inclining position, so that the roots of 

 the fierond cover the tops of the one 

 preceding. Then cover them with a 

 sloping bank of eartli, and beat it 

 smooth to throw off the rain, or make 

 a loose thatch of straw over the slope. 



Any of these plans will keep them 

 a long time in a good condition, and 

 those that remain on the ground may 

 be heeled over to the north, and co- 

 vered with earth up to the base of the 

 flowers. If the top leaves are drawn 

 over tlie head and tied, they still fur- 

 ther assist in protecting it ; for, re- 

 member, frost is injurious to the cauli- 

 flower at any time, but particularly 

 when the head is formed. 



The culture of broccoli differs little 

 from that of cauliflower and the rest of 

 the cabbage family, but it requires less 

 protection in winter, and will with- 

 stand very severe frosts if planted 

 pretty close, say fifteen inches apart 

 every way, and have the ground about 

 their roots freely sprinkled with salt, 

 and in mild weather the whole plot 

 well soaked with soapsuds. The cul- 

 ture must be generous, and the seed 

 good ; this last point is very important, 

 for the broccoli has not improved of 

 late j^ears ; cheap seed has been the 

 ruin of the plant, for at a low price it 

 does not pay to grow it as it should be 

 grown, and the breeds have got so 

 mixed that it is really difficult to get 

 any sort true to name, and bearing 

 precisely the character on which its 

 excellence depends. The directions 

 already given as to the general cul- 

 ture of cabbage and cauliflower apply 

 so strictly to broccoli, that it only re- 

 mains for me to point out the best 

 sorts for particular periods of the year, 

 and to show how a succession may be 

 best secured. 



There are at least twenty distinct 

 sorts of broccoli well known in gar- 

 dening, and no end of subvarieties of 

 these raised by seedsmen, many of 

 which are very slightly removed from 

 the old established sorts except in 

 name, and if a buyer trusts to names 

 only, he may soon get bewildered by 

 seedsmen's lists, and secure many 

 sorts with fine names, and at higli 

 prices, that maj^ prove no better, and 

 perhaps much worse, than the older 

 kinds ; and, indeed, the old sorts are 



doomed to undergo a yearly baptism, 

 and are again and again brought out 

 under new designations, and many of 

 them supplied to order out of the same 

 drawer, the seedsman having, perhaps, 

 half-a-dozen of the leading sorts, and 

 out of these supplying all that may be 

 asked for. 



Now, the best broccolis that can be 

 grown for general pui'poses are, first, 

 the Early Purple Cape, which, if sown 

 in April and again in the second week 

 of June, gives a supply from the be- 

 ginning of October till the beginning 

 of February . The Green or Late Cape 

 is another good one, to be sown at the 

 same times as the preceding, and is in 

 use from the beginning of October till 

 Christmas. Tlie Dwarf Purple, other- 

 wise called Danish, Swedish, andHardy 

 Siberian, is a valuable sort for exposed 

 districts on account of its hardiness. 

 Sow in the second week of April, and 

 it will be in cutting order the follow- 

 ing May. To these add the old Purple 

 Sprouting, which is very hardy, of 

 strong growth, and is a first-rate sort 

 for the cottage-garden, to supply nice 

 Purple Sprouts all the winter. Make 

 two or three sowings of this from the 

 middle of April to the middle of June. 

 It shoiild have plenty of room, not less 

 than two feet every way, when finally 

 planted out, on account of its branch- 

 ing mode of growth. These are the 

 best of the Purples. 



Of the Sulphurs there are two good 

 sorts, the Portsmouth or Southamp- 

 ton, and the common Brimstone Broc- 

 coli. These arc in use only in spring, 

 and are much grown for the London 

 mai'ket. April is the time for sowing 

 both. 



The white broccolis are the most 

 valued, because of their colour, firm- 

 ness, and resemblance to cauliflowers. 

 Grange's Early White is the best of all, 

 though now seldom seen as Grange 

 had it years ago ; it has got crossed a 

 good deal, and, like many other sorts, 

 has degenerated. It has, in common 

 with most others, a variety of names, 

 mostly local, which have been given it 

 by seedsmen ambitious of a little fame, 

 and a little extra profit, to be acquired, 

 not by the actual improvement of an 

 old sort, but by entering it in their lists 

 as new and wonderful, and as in their 



