96 Commercial Gardening 



application of soot to the foliage 'after a shower of rain or a heavy dew 

 By keeping the ground well tilled and free from weeds these pests will 

 however, be reduced to a minimum. 



ii. CAULIFLOWERS 



This curious vegetable (Brassica oleracea botrytis cauliftora), deveiope* 

 from the deformed inflorescence of some variety of the Cabbage or Kah 

 was known to the Greeks and Romans, but was not introduced into thi 

 country till the seventeenth century. So rapid, however, was the extensioi 

 and perfection of the culture here that, by the French Revolution, ther 

 was a large export of Cauliflowers from this country to Holland. 



It is only from countries where their more southern position give 

 them an earlier spring that any importations to this country come. Th 

 Cauliflower must be distinguished by the growe 

 from the Broccoli, which is a near relation an< 

 bears a close resemblance to it, but in flavour is les 

 delicate, and in constitution is hardier and mor 

 robust. 



First Crop. The culture for Cauliflowers com 

 mences in August, when towards the end of th 

 month the first sowings of Early London can b 

 made. Great care must be taken that the plant 

 Fig. 469 do not grow too gross in the autumn. If the. 



show any tendency to do this, the larger one 



must be drawn and pricked out. During October all the plants that ar 

 required for the crop must be put under protection. Many people prick th 

 best plants into thumb pots and place them under lights; some prick th 

 plants into the soil and cover them with lights. An old plan was to pricl 

 the plants into beds 4 ft. 6 in. wide, and cover them with an arch of trellis 

 work, over which mats were thrown at night and during severe weathei 

 This practice seems to have gone quite out; perhaps the cheapening of th 

 price of glass and of the production of frames for lights has had much t 

 do with its abandonment. When cloches or bell glasses are used th 

 Cauliflower is the first crop put under them. 



In January, on well-manured and deep-trenched ground, the stronger 

 plants selected from those in the pots are put out. The method is to plan 

 four with a trowel in a square inside a circle described by the circumferenc 

 of the base of the cloche (fig. 469). A space sufficient to stand the cloch 

 when taken off the plants is left between the clumps of four, and the row 

 are planted 4 ft. apart. The cloches are kept on continuously during th 

 early weeks of spring. Little giving of air is required, as plenty gets ii 

 as a rule, round the edges of the cloches through unevennesses in th 

 soil. If any is required it can be given by tilting the cloche with a piec 

 of notched stick. 



