268 VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. 



But a few years back, only two sorts of brocoli 

 were recognized the red and the purple, both of 

 which originally came to us from Italy. Thirteen 

 varieties are now enumerated as raised in the English 

 garden, and each in turn is recommended to the notice 

 of the cultivator by some characteristic quality. In 

 the culture of no vegetable has so marked and rapid 

 an improvement taken place as in that of brocoli ; 

 horticulturists have recently succeeded in producing 

 a hardy white variety, which has a handsomer ap- 

 pearance than either the green or the purple, while it 

 is more delicate in flavour. White as well as purple 

 are now obtained throughout the winter, some attain- 

 ing to the size and equalling the cauliflower in appear- 

 ance, though not in taste. The earliest spring crop 

 follows without an interval the late winter crop, and 

 no cessation need take place in the supply of brocoli, 

 although, perhaps, it is not commonly raised during a 

 month or two in the middle of the summer, when many 

 other vegetables are produced in abundance. 



Brocoli succeeds best in a fresh loamy soil ; the 

 seed-beds should be of rich mould, on which the 

 seeds are thinly scattered, and covered with mats or 

 litter till the plants appear. 



SPINACEOUS PLANTS. 



THE leaves of these plants are most generally of a 

 softer texture and more insipid flavour than those of 

 the brassica tribe. As their excellence consists in the 

 succulence of the leaves, a rich soil is required for 

 their cultivation. They generally belong to the 

 family Chenopodea,* having very small flowers of a 

 greenish tinge, formed into heads of various shapes, 

 as a ball, a bunch, or a spike. 



* De Candolle. 



