A TALK OS CAULIFLOWERS. 



4- 



better than successive applications of well- 

 rotted stable manure. Plow as early as the 

 first of May. By plowing early we pre- 

 serve the moisture. When the first sign of 

 weeds appears give a harrowing or cultiva- 

 tion. For your seed bed choose your piece 

 of ground early and plow as early in the 

 spring as possible, harrowing when any 

 signs of weeds appear. About May 15 give 

 a thorough cultivation, harrow well and put 

 on your planker or roller. 



" I prefer the plank, as it gives a nice, 

 mellow, smooth seed bed. Do not be afraid 

 to pay a high price for seed, and if possible 

 secure seed that has been grown north. I 

 consider Danish seed better than German. 



" Of late years one of the chief faults has 

 been that the germinating power of cauli- 

 flower seed has been very low, and whether 

 the fault is due to the seedsmen or in the 

 breeding up of the higher type I know not, 

 but, this I do know, that, generally speak- 

 ing, it takes one ounce of seed to produce 

 1,000 to 1,500 plants, and in sowing the seed 

 I sow one ounce to about 400 feet of drill. 



" Before the plants break the ground 

 there should be a good supply of tobacco 

 dust on hand. This is one of the best pre- 

 ventives I know of for that little bug that is 

 so destructive to cabbage and cauliflower 

 plants. Put it on while the dew is on the 

 plants. It takes about five or six weeks for 

 the plants to grow to the right size for trans- 

 planting. 



" It is not good policy to set the plants too 

 small. They should have a good, strong, 

 stocky growth and will be more hardy and 

 live better in an unfavorable time if their 

 growth has been moderately slow in the seed 

 bed. It is never best to crowd cauliflower 

 in the field. Give them plenty of room and 

 you will get better development. For the 

 Erfurt I plant the rows three feet apart and 

 two feet apart in the row. 



" A few days before transplanting manure 



and plow your ground again, harrow well 

 and put on your planker so that your sur- 

 face is smoothed off nicely, select a cloudy 

 day or after a rain to put your plants out, or 

 if the weather be hot and dry take the after- 

 noon, say from three o'clock, and evening 

 for doing your work. If the soil is too dry, 

 draw water and wet each place a little be- 

 fore setting the plant. Generally there is 

 no need to draw water, as if the ground has 

 been worked properly it will be moist 

 enough to set out the young plants. 



" The cultivation should always be level 

 and should be run fairly deep the first and 

 second times, and after that quite shallow. 

 Cultivate as long as possible without break- 

 ing the leaves. Cauliflowers if left to grow 

 without covering are not worth anything, 

 but if covered at the proper time will gen- 

 erally come out nice and white. 



" Commence to tie them up when the 

 heads are the size of a coft'ee cup, taking 

 two rows at a time. I use a strong three- 

 ply twine. The tying should be done while 

 the cauliflowers are dry and during the 

 warm part of. the day while the leaves are 

 limber. Most people prefer to tie their 

 flowers up tight. I like to leave them as 

 open as possible just so the sun will not spot 

 them, so that when cutting them you can 

 look down and see how they are doing. 



" The cutting involves considerable care 

 and judgment, and must not be neglected, 

 for money is often lost by not attending to 

 the cutting at the right time. There are 

 two methods in common use ; one is to cut, 

 trim and pack in boxes or baskets in the 

 field as you go along. The other is to cut 

 below the bottom leaf and cart to the barn 

 to trim and pack. By cutting below the 

 bottom leaf it stops the growth of the stalk, 

 while if you leave any leaves on that stalk 

 it lives and draws nourishment from the 

 soil. I use the latter. 



" I take six rows and do the third and 



