August 18, 1863. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOETICULTUKE AND COTTAGE GABDENEE. 



123 



Au^Bt, the second in September, and the last in October. 

 The Stadtholder, Asiatic, and Walcheren, are best for the 

 second and third sowings. 



With Protection. — Fermenting material or aa-tificial 

 heat, frames, and hand-glasses, are the appliances. 



To produce early Cauliflowers the sowing is made in 

 August, the second week being quite early enough ; and 

 when the weather is mild a September sowing is often pre- 

 ferable. It is well to provide for all emergencies : therefore 

 I wiU give in close detail the particulars, and nothing can 

 represent these better than a table showing time of sowing, 

 pricking-out, and planting. The dates are the means of 

 fifty years observations, as noted by an old gardener, and 

 they have been verified and practised by myself, and foimd 

 to answer. 



Sown. Prickcd-out. Planted. 



March 1st (on hotbed) March 29ib (on hotbe'l)... May lat. 



March 9th (under eoulh -wall). April 21.-t May 23rd. 



April 8th May 14th June 4 h. 



May 2nri June3rd June 20th. 



May 24lh June 2lBt July 1.5th. 



Jane 4th July 1st July 25ih. 



August 23rd (October Snd (under hand- j ^pril 15th. 



*' -^ filiis^es and frame) I ^ 



f October ISth (in frame. 



September 3rd.. 



April 20th, 

 ^ part potted arid put in a V and 



I pit) ) May 9th. 



From the above table it will be seen that the obtaining of 

 Cauliflowers early was well provided for. If those under 

 hand-glasses failed, there was the second autumn-sowing to 

 rely upon ; but had these also disappointed, there was the 

 spring-sowing on a hotbed. If all did well, the hand-glass 

 division gave heads early in June, the potted ones followed 

 next, beating by ten days those transplanted from the 

 frames, and those on hotbeds were little, if any, behind the 

 transplanted ones. 



I have heard old gardeners talk of being able to have 

 Cauliflowers all the year round, but have not been gratified 

 by seeing it done, though I have no doubt it has been. I 

 have cut Cauliflowers on New Year's-day, and in almost all 

 seasons they may be had until Christmas. Snow's Winter 

 Broccoli in mild seasons may be had in January and Fe- 

 bruary, which, with Knight's Protecting, will see us into 

 March, when Malta, a dwarf and somewhat tender kind, 

 comes in, followed by DOcock's Bride, Elletson's Emperor, 

 and Mammoth, winding up with Invisible White Broccoli 

 in May, a few of which taken up when the heads are about 

 the size of a small doubled hand, and laid-in under a north 

 wall, wOl generally be retarded three weeks, or untU Cauli- 

 flowers come in from hand-glasses. I have no doubt, there- 

 fore, that some gardeners may have had Catiliflowers seven 

 months, and Broccoli five, out of the twelve. 



Cauliflowers shotild be pricked out under hand-glasses in 

 rather poor soil, for the main object is to have them well 

 rooted before severe weather sets in, and they will produce 

 more fibres and root more quickly in a rather poor than in a 

 rich compost. A sheltered site should be chosen, and if the 

 plants wUl stand sun without flagging they should not be 

 watered from November until the close of March ; in fact, 

 they seldom will need a watering after that given at pricking- 

 out time to settle the earth about their roots. A dozen or 

 more may be pricked out under each hand-glass on condition 

 that they be reduced to three, four, or five in the April 

 following. 



Square hand-glasses, 1 foot 6 inches on the side, 10 inches 

 in depth to what may be termed the eaves of the hand-glass, 

 and with a moveable top, are the description to be preferred ; 

 for when the top is taken off the bottom is left to shelter 

 the plants from cutting winds, though exposing them well 

 to the air. With the other kind of hand-glasses the plants 

 are often exposed to chilling draughts, and frequently do 

 not form anything like a head afterwards. Plants are acted 

 on by draughts similarly to animals. Sudden changes in 

 temperature give colds to animals ; and so in plants — sudden 

 changes are hurtful, and if long continued cause the death 

 of the subject. 



Whenever the temperature is above 32° Cauliflowers 

 shoiild have air, and when it is above 40° the lights of 

 frames or the tops of hand-glasses should be taken off and 

 not put on again until from frost or heavy rain the doing so 

 becomes an imperative necessity. Cauliflowers cannot have 

 too much air or too little water during winter, or too much 



of either when growth is wanted. During severe frosts the 

 lights may remain closed, providing the sun does not melt 

 the snow off the glasses or thaw the frosted leaves inside. 

 Snow should never be swept off the lights, for it is the best 

 of all protective coverings ; and when the lights are matted, 

 which they should be in severe weather if no snow falls, 

 the mats should not be removed uutU the plants are 

 thoroughly thawed ; otherwise, the sun shining upon the 

 frosted leaves will have the same effect upon them as warm 

 water has upon frosted greens. Frosted plants of any kind 

 cannot thaw too slowly, otherwise the tissues burst. The 

 soil should be frequently stirred and every possible means 

 taken to promote a healthy state, and then the plants wiU 

 thrive. They cannot flourish in an impure atmosphere, nor 

 form sturdy growth in a close frame. 



After March the lights should be taken off frames and the 

 tops of hand-glasses removed every morning before break- 

 fast, and put on again the last thing before ceasing work for 

 the day. A little fresh soil should be added as the plants 

 advance in growth, and by the beginning of April they will 

 need thinning. Do this as much as possible without injuring 

 the remaining plants, which must be well watered and 

 eai-thed well up. Where there is a number of hand-glasses 

 half of them may be reduced to five plants in each, and the 

 other half to three. Hand-glasses with five plants beneath 

 them will come into bearing sooner than those with three, 

 for by limiting the supply of food at command we induce 

 early flowering. 



After the 13th of May the hand-glasses may be removed 

 altogether if they be wanted for other pui-poses, as ridge 

 Cucumbers, &c. ; but a few should be left over the plants, 

 by which means a succession is certain, and heads may be 

 cut under them in May sometimes, but with certainty in 

 June. As the plants advance in growth earth must be 

 placed round the stems, leaving it something like a mound 

 with a flat top dished to hold water. Water must be con- 

 stantly given at night in dry weather, or the head will be 

 small and as soft as a puff-ball. 



The treatment of Cauliflowers in frames is identical with 

 that of plants under hand-glasses, except that they are 

 planted out as from a pricked-out bed, and every cottager 

 in the village may receive his score or two of plants. 



In sowing in pans or frames the seeds must be scattered 

 thinly and abundance of air given, or blacklegging (the 

 stems damping-otf near the soU), or drawn growths result. 

 Too much water causes damping, and sudden changes of 

 temperature induce prematm-e heading. It is scarcely pos- 

 sible to have good-sized Cauliflowers from spring-sown 

 plants before Ji3y, though I have heard many gardeners 

 advocate spring-sowing in preference to autumn-sowing, 

 even insinuating that they can obtain as good heads and as 

 early from one as from the other. I have tried both plans, 

 and never could gi-ow anything worth calling a head before 

 the middle of July from a spring-sowing, though I certainly 

 have had some small heads open enough for anything from 

 similar sowings ; but they were only fit for stews. Spring- 

 sown plants make a first-rate succession to autumn-sown, 

 and for that reason a sowing in heat in spring is desirable. 



Passing over the treatment of after-crops, which has been 

 given at an earlier stage, I wiU take October, when the 

 plants from the June sowing will have nice heads forming. 

 When these are about half the size they would attain if left 

 growing, bring all the leaves together over the heart and tie 

 them with matting as for blanching Lettuce, then with a 

 spade cut round each plant at 9 inches from the stem, not 

 leaving any imcut part. Sixty plants will be ample to serve 

 in this way, and should no frost greater than 10° happen no 

 injury wiU result to the heads, which wUl be retarded a 

 iortnight or three weeks. At the same time select one 

 hundred plants, more or less according to the size of the 

 establishment, and with a spade cut down the depth of the 

 spade on three sides of the plant, and with the last cut Uft 

 up the plant and carry it just as it is to a north border, 

 where a trench has previously been opened to receive it. 

 In this place put the plant, leaning it with the head towards 

 the wall, and cover the stem quite up to the leaves in 

 addition to covering the roots. Tread the soil gently down, 

 and put the plants as closely together as possible without 

 literally being one upon the other. The plants, it should be 

 borne in mind, must not have heads larger than one-quarter 



