THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



83 



them as hardy as you can, for the 

 more you nurse them in November the 

 more likely are you to lose a good 

 many in February. Another plan, 

 which saves glasses, is to plant them 

 under a wall on a sloping bed facing 

 the south, and during severe weather 

 to cover them entirely with loose lit- 

 ter, which is a good protection against 

 frost. During mild weather all litter 

 should be removed, and replaced again 

 if frost occurs, and in the same way air 

 should be given at every favourable 

 opportunity to those under glasses. 

 In very severe and late winters, espe- 

 cially if heavy rains occur between the 

 frosts, the crop will suffer a good deal 

 in spite even of hand-glasses. A few 

 mats or loose litter over the glasses 

 will afford additional protection, but 

 at the first change to mild weather 

 the plants should be well aired, and 

 the earth slightly stirred about their 

 roots ; but as mild winters occur pretty 

 often, the statement of these particu- 

 lars should not deter any one from 

 sowing cauliflowers in autumn, for 

 they take but little room ; and if you 

 begin with plenty of plants, you are 

 pretty sure to have enough left for a 

 fair supply the next summer. But to 

 save the trouble of keeping them over 

 winter, or to replace those cut off by 

 frost, a sowing may be made in the 

 middle of January on a gentle hot- 

 bed, or in pans in a warm corner of a 

 greenhouse, and when the plants are 

 up they should be pricked out on 

 another hotbed, kept near the glass, 

 and gradually inured to the air, and 

 ■ planted out as soon as frosts are over. 

 These if well managed, especially if 

 not pushed into a rapid growth at first, 

 will come to maturity almost as soon 

 as those sown in August. 



During March and April other 

 sowings may be made, and each lot 

 planted out as soon as it is fit, and 

 then grown on quick in an open space 

 away from trees, and in the richest 

 soil you have, and to be assisted with 

 liquid manure frequently. Give them 

 a good soaking every night about the 

 roots, and now and then a drenching 

 overhead with rain-water from the 

 rose of a large watering-pot during 

 dry and hot weather. In other re- 

 spects the culture is the same as cab- 



bage, the chief difference being that 

 the plant is even more luxurious in its 

 living, and a little less hardy. For 

 those who have not the convenience of 

 frames, nor much time to spare to 

 nurse a crop during winter, I should 

 recommend Mitchell's Hardy Early, a 

 sort sent out by Rendle, of Plymouth, 

 and now well known in the tr^de. It is 

 not quite so quick in growth as Early 

 London, but requires less protection, 

 and has a handsome compact head, 

 which will stand for a fortnight before 

 getting loose or frothy. 



There is a valid reason for frequent 

 small sowings of cauliflower, especially 

 in spring ; for if one large sowing be 

 depended on, the plants are likely to 

 come to perfection all at once, and, if 

 not quickly used, the head breaks up, 

 and is only fit for pickling. I have 

 often seen market-growers devote large 

 breadths to cauliflower ; but, depend- 

 ing on one sowing, they have had to 

 sell at a loss, to get the ground clear 

 when the crop came in a sudden glut ; 

 whereas, if they had sown continuously 

 from the middle of January to the 

 middle of May, they might have sent 

 weekly supplies to market, and have 

 got good prices to the last head. In a 

 private establishment, too, it is a mark 

 of good management if the gardener 

 can cut broccoli or cauliflower any day 

 in the year; and to do this requires 

 that sort of head-work, which, as 

 Cowper says, 



" Foreoastes the future whole." 



The spring-sown crop will be as 

 difficult to keep over winter as young 

 plants, but the prime heads may be 

 cut before severe weather sets in, and 

 hung head downwards, with their 

 leaves on, in a dry shed ; or the plants 

 may be pulled up entire, and, after the 

 lower and decayed leaves are removed, 

 planted as close as they will pack in 

 dry earth under hand-lights ; or they 

 may even be buried in peat or clean 

 straw, or laid in alternate layers m 

 clean sand, as you would bury potatoes, 

 though peat discolours them, and they 

 need a careful washing before they go 

 to the pot. Another mode of keeping 

 them is to dig a trench two feet deep 

 and eighteen inches wide, and lay 

 them in it, roots uppermost, in an 



