CAULIFLOWER IX THE SOUTH. 89 



irrigating sufficiently to keep the soil moist. After- 

 wards, hoeing, picking grubs and replacing the 

 losses from the seed-bed must be attended to. 



The selection of sorts is a serious matter in cauli- 

 flower culture, because many sorts grow only to 

 leaves in some climates, and great loss has been 

 met with by some people in consequence of getting 

 the wrong variety. The variety known to English 

 seedsmen as Large Asiatic, has established itself in 

 the Northern Provinces, where a good head of 

 cauliflower is procurable in December for one-half 

 anna. In Bombay the same would cost ten times 

 that sum. The seed of this variety is remarkably 

 cheap in the districts it bears seed in. From 

 Shajehanpore I bought large quantities at Rs. 2 

 per pound, while the price of seed from England 

 was Rs. 2 per ounce. This sort is perfectly reli- 

 able when properly cultivated, but it is considered 

 inferior in flavor and delicacy to English sorts, and 

 its season is very short. It appears to run to seed 

 when January comes, at whatever time it may have 

 been sown, while English varieties come into use 

 from the beginning of December to the end of 

 February according to the date of sowing. 



Among European varieties, success will gener- 

 ally be met with by sowing Early London and 

 Walcheren. The difPerent Giant and Mammoth 



varieties advertised in seedsmen's catalogues should 

 6 



