CAULIFLOWER. 



751 



place, the supernumeraries must be removed, and 

 those that remain well earthed up, at the same time 

 forming a kind of basin round the roots to hold 

 water, copious supplies of which they will occasionally 

 require if the season be dry. At this time also, the 

 glasses are raised all round, by being set on three or 

 four brick-bats to give head room, till about the 

 iiiiug of Ma}-, when they may be taken off the 

 phiuts entirely. 



Cauliflower plants cultivated in this way are the 

 first ready for table, and very often come in too much 

 together for private use, too many hand-glasses, there- 

 fore, need not be employed ; for those plants which 

 have stood, perhaps, exposed to the open air all 

 winter unscathed, will come into use very shortly 

 after those in glasses. The progress of the plants 

 depends greatly on the winter ; it' it has passed mildly, 

 whether under protection or not, the plants are ad- 

 vanced accordingly; but, in severe and long continued 

 frost, every exposed cauliflower plant is cut off'. 



In places where a high style of kitchen gardening 

 is carried on, and where there arc forcing-houses of 

 different descriptions, another method of obtaining 

 an early crop of this favourite vegetable is had re- 

 course to, which is as follows : As soon as the seed- 

 lings which are sown about the 25th of August are fit, 

 that is, large enough to handle, they are planted in 

 Blxty-sized pots, filled with very rich compost. When 

 potted, they are iirst watered, and plunged, in the 

 earth of a cold frame not too far from the glass. 

 They must have fresh air daily, by raising the lights 

 at the back, and kept, duly watered. As soon as the 

 roots have spread to the outside of the ball of earth, 

 they must be shifted into forty-eight-sized pots, and, 

 in similar compost, watered, and re plunged again in 

 the frame. In another month the plants will require 

 thirty-two-sized pots, afterwards twenty-fours, and, 

 ultimately, about the 1st of March, sixteens. When 

 fairly established in these last pots, say about the 1st 

 of April, they are taken into a peach-house or vinery, 

 and set in pans of water along the front flue or plat- 

 form of the house. Here they should have as much 

 fresh air as possible, and should always be well sup- 

 plied with water ; for if, in any stage of their growth, 

 more especially after being taken into the house, the 

 roots get thoroughly dry, the plants immediately button, 

 that i, produce ilower-heads no bigger than buttons. 

 About the middle of April the plants may be taken 

 out of the house, and turned out into pits made to 

 receive them, either upon a south border 'or in the 

 alleys between asparagus beds. In these places they 

 should be let in four inches below the common sur- 

 face of the ground, and have the earth drawn to their 

 stems to keep them steady. Should frosty nights 

 occur after they are out, a few fir-boughs, stuck so 

 as to lean over them, will save them from injury. 

 Cauliflower plants treated in this way generally 

 produce fine heads about the 1st of May. 



An observation may be made here as applicable 

 to the cauliflower, and all other plants whose flowers 

 arc terminal, that is, bearing them on the points of 

 the stem or branches. Such plants are composed of 

 a system of organs, namely, a root, stem, a certain 

 number of leaves, flowers, and seed. If such a plant, 

 in its early youth, receive extraordinary excitement, 

 the flower will be brought forward prematurely, as 

 already observed, and before the other members 

 have acquired sufficient volume to yield a flower-head 

 of any considerable size. This invariably happens if 



the seed be sown too early in August, because the 

 natural tendency of the plant is to produce seeds 

 before the summer is over ; but by sowing later, 

 the decreasing temperature of the season affords a 

 longer spring-time, in which the whole system is 

 amplified, and a larger flower produced. So also, if 

 the early growth receive a check, either by being 

 confined in a pot, or for want of water, or from being- 

 excited by too much heat, the stem and flower, being 

 the central parts of the system, are suddenly pro- 

 truded, and come forth diminutive and worthless. 

 To hasten the flowering, it has been lately discovered 

 that, if the stem of a full-grown plant be nearly cut 

 through near the ground, and supported so as riot to 

 be entirely broken oi!j it will put forth its flower a 

 week sooner than if it had not been wounded at all. 

 This is quite a natural consequence, because the 

 growth of the exterior organs are checked, and the 

 remaining vigour is concentrated to expand the 

 flower. Thus we often see plants of the same genus, 

 when pulled up and thrown upon the bare ground, 

 or rubbish-heap, perfect their flowers without direct 

 assistance from the root. 



The foregoing observations relate to what may be 

 called the superior methods of cultivating cauliflowers ; 

 but they may be cultivated without the assistance of 

 either glass or hothouses, and with no further trouble 

 than protecting the plants from severe frost during 

 winter. With this intention the seedlings are drawn 

 from the seed-bed, and pricked out, as before ob- 

 served, on narrow beds, on a warm dry border having 

 a south aspect. On the approach of frost, hoops 

 should be placed over the beds, and mats or other 

 materials got ready to cover with. Such covering 

 should only be kept on during the night, or in hard 

 frosty days, which if duly attended to, the plants 

 will be preserved, and be fit to be transplanted to 

 their final station some time in the month of March. 

 A piece of well-dressed ground, in an open situation, 

 is suitable for their reception. On this the plants 

 are dibbed in rows thirty inches apart, and in which 

 they may stand two feet asunder. During their 

 growth they only require deep hoeing to kill weeds, 

 and drawing earth to their stems, to strengthen and 

 keep them steady. Such a crop comes in for use 

 principally in June. 



The above are called the spring crop ; but in order 

 to have a succession of flowers through the summer, 

 two sowings must be made in the spring. The first 

 should be raised on a little heat, or under hand- 

 glasses, close to a south wall, in the month of Febru- 

 ary, and afterwards pricked out in a cold frame, to 

 be* nursed till they are of sufficient size, and until the 

 season serves for planting them out for good. These, 

 with some of the underlings of the autumn sowings, 

 will come in after the spring crop. The second 

 spring sowing is made about the 20th of April. 

 These are commonly called Michaelmas cauliflowers, 

 and which begin to come in about that holiday, and 

 last till the frost destroys them. But, as many 

 flowers are in prime order in November, when sharp 

 frosts may be expected, it is usual to secure all the 

 best, by digging them up, trimming off the greater 

 part of the outside leaves, and hanging them up by 

 the stems in a warm shed, or stowing them upright 

 and close together in dry earth, in a spare hotbed 

 frame or pit, where they may be protected from frost 

 and damp. In this way cauliflowers may be kept 

 good till February. 



