CAULIFLOWERS AND HOW TO GROW THEM 



R. BRODIE, WESTMOUNT, QUE. 



IHxWE been led to choose this subject 

 by the number of people who ask how 

 to grow this delicious vegetable. In grow- 

 ing cauliflowers successfully the first con- 

 sideration is the selection of good seed. 

 Cheap se6d will generally grow poor cauli- 

 flowers. 



Varieties of cauliflowers that may do well 

 in the m-oist, cool climate of England, would 

 be a failure in our warm, dry climate. I 

 have seen some of these varieties grow 

 three feet high without forming a head. A 

 good strain of the Dwarf Erfurt variety is 

 the best suited to our climate. Nearly 

 every large seed house has special strains 

 of the Dwarf Erfurt, named Snowball, 

 Snowstorm, Giltedge, Alabaster, Ideal, etc. ; 

 all good, varying a little in earliness. 



All farmers should know how to make a 

 hot-bed ; a few have small greenhouses. I 

 prefer the hot-bed to start vegetable plants, 

 as those grown in a greenhouse are apt to 

 grow too large and spindly. In choosing a 

 spot for a hot-bed select a place sheltered 

 from the wind and where the glass will get 

 the morning and afternoon sun. 



TO OBTAIN AN EARLY CROP. 



A good way to have extra early cauli- 

 flowers is to sow the Snowball variety the 

 end of February or beginning of March. 

 In about three weeks the plants will be 

 large enough to set out into other hot-beds. 

 Set the plants one foot apart each way. 

 Some growers plant early lettuce between 

 the cauliflower. The lettuce comes into 

 use so much earlier than the latter, it does 

 not interfere with the growth or cultivation 

 of the cauliflower, for the soil needs to be 

 stirred and cultivated round the plants in 

 the hot-beds as well as in the open ground. 



For early cauliflower in the open, sow- 

 Dwarf Erfurt in a moderately warm hot- 

 bed in the middle of March. Keep the 



temperature down to between 60 and 70 de- 

 grees by lifting the glass an inch or two. 

 In about three weeks set out the plants in 

 other hot-beds three inches apart; some 

 growers set them in two-inch pots plunged 

 in the soil, close together in the hot-bed. 

 These plants should be ready to set out the 

 first week in May, as soon as there is no 

 danger of frost. For summer and autumn, 

 make a seed bed in the open ground. Those 

 who grow large quantities use a garden 

 seed drill. If the black fly is troublesome 

 use road dust or plaster of paris. With two 

 gallons of road dust or plaster add one 

 tablespoonful of paris green, mix thor- 

 oughly and dust on the young plants in the 

 morning when the dew is on them. 



The soils best suited to cauliflower are 

 black muck, if well drained, black sandy 

 loam, or any soil that will retain the mois- 

 ture. Avoid light gravely and sandy soil. 

 My Italian neighbor took a field of poor 

 clay soil last spring that had a stunted crop 

 of oats and which had been full of couch 

 grass the previous year. By plowing and 

 grubbing till he got out most of the couch, 

 grass, then plowing in manure at tne rate 

 of 75 tons to the acre, he had a fairly good 

 crop of cauliflowers this autumn. He is 

 now applying as much more manure, and 

 said to me, " With plenty of manure I can 

 make this field all right," and he is right. 



I believe there are some market garden- 

 ers in the States W'ho condemn the use of 

 stable manure for growing cauliflowers. 

 These men only use commercial fertilizer. 

 On the other hand, growers around Mont- 

 real believe they can beat the world in grow- 

 ing cauliflowers. Our large growers sell 

 their best to the green grocer and butcher, 

 the rest they sell to the pickle factories for 

 $30 to $40 per ton. Some growers sold 50 

 to 75 tons. 



* A paper read at the twelfth annual winter meeting of the Pomological and Fruit Growing Society of the Province of Quebec, hrld 

 at Ayer's Cliff, Que., Dec. 14 and 15. 



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