236 



CRUCIFER&. LXXXIII. BRASSICA. 



Storing or Preserving during Winter. " Cauliflowers may be 

 preserved for a considerable time by various methods. About 

 the end of the month of October pick out all those that have 

 close and well-shaped heads, lift them carefully with a spade, 

 dress off most of the leaves above the flower, remove them to an 

 open-shed, and lay them in by the heels, as it is called, among 

 rotten tan or dry mould, place them closely together, but not so 

 as to touch each other. In this state, if kept free of damp, they 

 will continue good for some time after those in the open air are 

 exhausted. They may also be carefully taken up, and stored in 

 the same way in the borders of any peach-house or vinery, ob- 

 serving to shut up the lights during rain, and also on frosty nights. 

 They may also be protected in deep garden-frames, or they may 

 be taken up in a dry day and carried to an airy shed, and tied in 

 pairs, and hung up on poles or strong nails with their heads 

 downwards ; or they may be cut over about six inches below the 

 flower, and a few of their leaves left to be wrapped round them, 

 and buried about eighteen inches below the surface, in a dry 

 bank or among sand, in a cellar or out-house. 



" The most successful method we have practised for preserv- 

 ing Cauliflower in perfection through the winter months is to cut 

 them in dry weather, dress off all their leaves, 'put them in an 

 airy place to dry for a day or two, then bury them in casks or 

 boxes amongst bog-mould, composed of vegetable matter, such 

 as is dry for fuel. This kind is antiseptic and capable of resist- 

 ing putrefaction, particularly when excluded from atmospheric 

 air. Cauliflower preserved in this way should be well washed 

 previously to using, as they become black when buried any length 

 of time ; not that such blackness proceeds from any decompo- 

 sition of the heads, but arises from the more subtile particles of 

 the mould adhering to their surface." Mackintosh. 



A method of preserving Cauliflower is mentioned, Cal. hort. 

 soc. mem. vol. 1. p. 129, and which consists in burying the entire 

 plant in a pit about eighteen inches deep, dug along the bottom 

 of a wall. On a dry day the plants are taken up and the leaves 

 are wrapped round the head or flower, they are then deposited in 

 the trench, the heads sloping downwards and the roots extending 

 upwards, so that the roots of one layer cover the tops of another. 

 Next the whole are covered closely with earth, sloping it from 

 the wall and beating it smooth with the back of the spade so that 

 the rain may run off. In this way they are preserved from No- 

 vember to January. 



To save Seed. " Mark and leave some prime plants of the 

 thoroughly nursed early and main crops in May and June, when 

 the flower heads are in highest perfection, as those of late pro- 

 ductton will not ripen seed effectually. The stools will afford 

 ripe seed in September, when be careful to watch the chaffinches, 

 green-birds, &c. to gather the branches as the seed upon them 

 ripens. Lay them elevated from the ground in some sunny, airy 

 situation, to dry and harden to full maturity ; after which let the 

 seed be beaten or rubbed out, cleaned and sifted from the husky 

 parts, spread on a cloth to dry the whole equally, and then put 

 up for sowing the following year." Abercrombie. 



* * Brocoli, (Eng.) Broccoli (Fr.) Italienesche Kohl (Ger.) 

 Cavolo Romano, or Broccoli (Ital.) (Brdssica oleracea, F. bo- 

 trytis. * asparagotdes, D. C. 1. c.) 



Brocoli is scarcely distinguishable from Cauliflower. The 

 stem is usually taller ; the leaves are more elongated ; the pe- 

 duncles are fleshy at the top, bearing small flower-buds, and of a 

 hardier constitution. The varieties are divided into the White 

 and Purple Brocoli ; there are numerous sub-varieties of each. 



In Miller's Dictionary, under the article Brassica, the few 

 Brocolis that were then known are supposed to have proceeded 

 from the Cauliflower, which was originally imported from the Isle 

 of Cyprus about the middle of the 1 6th century. Miller mentions 

 the White and Purple or Maltese Brocoli as coming from Italy, and 



it is conjectured that from these two sorts all the subsequent kinds 

 have arisen, either by accidental or premeditated impregnation. 

 Miller mentions the Roman Neapolitan and Black Brocoli as being 

 in use in his time, but he says of those the Roman is the best. 



Mr. Neill observes, that no culinary plant is so liable to sport 

 as Brocoli ; so that new kinds, slightly different, are conti- 

 nually coming into notice or favour, and as speedily sinking into 

 neglect. Maher observes (Hort. trans. 1. p. 116.) that as all 

 plants of the Brassica tribe become less alkalescent and more 

 palatable in proportion as they approach to a pale or white co- 

 lour, such varieties of Brocoli will undoubtedly be preferable to 

 purple ones if they turn out equally hardy. An able writer on 

 this subject, H. Ronalds, of Brentford, has given (Hort. trans. 3.) 

 a description of different varieties of Brocoli, with an account of 

 the method of cultivating them ; from this and any new addi- 

 tional information on this subject, in Loudon's encycl. gard., we 

 shall chiefly compose this article. 



. Varieties and their Culture. 



1 Purple, Cape, or Autumnal Brocoli. This has a close com- 

 pact head, of a beautiful colour; the leaves are almost entire, 

 erect, concave, lobed at the base, and much waved, short, and 

 regularly surrounding the head ; the veins and midrib are stained 

 with purple, which stain is a test of its being true ; the head is 

 exposed to the view in growing ; in general it is not very large, as 

 it enlarges the projecting parts of the flower shew a greenish- 

 white colour mixed with purple. When boiled the whole head 

 becomes green. If the season is showery, and this variety is 

 planted in good ground, it comes as large as Cauliflower. 



Cult. Sown about the middle of May or beginning of June, it 

 will produce in regular succession from August till December, or 

 until the frost destroys the heads. When sown in July or Au- 

 gust, if the winter is mild, it will bring good heads in spring. 

 When sown in the beginning of September and then preserved in 

 frames as Cauliflowers, fine heads may be expected in the months 

 of June or July. Thus by good management this kind may be 

 in use the greater part of the year, but it is not hardy enough to 

 be depended on in the winter months. The plants grow from 

 one foot to a foot and a half, and should be placed about two 

 feet apart in every direction. 



Maher's mode of treating the Purple Brocoli is as follows. 

 Three crops are sown annually : the first between the 12th and 

 18th of April, a second between the 18th and 24th of May, the 

 third between the 19th and 25th of August; these successive 

 crops supply the family from September till the end of May. 

 The seeds are sown very thinly on a border of very rich light 

 earth. Not a weed is suffered to grow, and when the plants 

 have from eight to ten leaves, which is in about a month, they 

 are finally transplanted, two feet asunder every way, in a piece of 

 sandy loam, which has been well prepared by digging, and en- 

 riched by a large proportion of very rotten dung, frequently 

 turned over to pick out every sort of grub or insect. The 

 ground is kept clean by frequent hoeing, and the loose surface is 

 drawn round the stems into a heap. The second crop is treated 

 exactly as the first, but the weaker plants are left in the seed- 

 bed eight or ten days longer to gain strength. They are then 

 transplanted from the bed into eighteen sized pots filled with rich 

 earth, then placing them close to each other in the shade, and duly 

 watering the plants till they begin to grow freely. After this the 

 pots are plunged in the open ground two feet distance each way, 

 and about three inches under the .common level of the ground, 

 by this means a basin is formed round each plant, to retain any 

 water given to them when necessary until the autumnal rains 

 commence, when the basins are filled up by drawing the earth 

 round each plant, at the same time pressing it firmly down, to 

 prevent the wind from shaking them. A few of these sometimes 



