THE LAKE EEGION. 73 



are generally a few hard frosts which injure some 

 of the heads if they are not kept well covered and 

 closely cut. The main cauliflower season then 

 comes on, running through October and the first 

 half of November. In a warm, late season nearly 

 all the plants will have headed, and the heads have 

 been sold before cold weather, but when winter comes 

 on early, a portion of the plants will be still unde- 

 veloped; these are either gathered and stored, as 

 elsewhere described, or used for feeding stock. My 

 crop was marketed at Grand Rapids and Chicago, 

 and was considered the finest sent to either of those 

 cities. Its excellence was attributed mainly to the 

 deep new fertile soil, which never suffered from 

 drouth under proper cultivation, and to the moist 

 climate, due to the surrounding forests and the 

 proximity to Lake Michigan. 



At South Haven, on the immediate shore of Lake 

 Michigan, the upland is mainly too heavy for the best 

 growth of cauliflower. Mr. Sheff'er says: (Mich. 

 Ag. Rep. 1888, p. 287) "We have the advantage 

 of cheap lands, cheap transportation to a boundless 

 market, and a moist climate, all making celery and 

 cauliflower desirable crops. For cauliflower, the 

 proper soil is the first essential. If planted on 

 uplands it will fail nine times out of ten, unless set 

 so late as to head up just before winter. But it is 

 better to grow it on low wet soils that can be ditched 

 5 



