502 THE KITCHEN GARDEN. [SEPT. 



make a slight hot-bed towards the latter end of that month, and 

 prick them out of the seed-bed thereon ; this will forward them con- 

 siderably. 



At all events, I would advise, particularly in the middle States, 

 the first sowing to be made about the tenth or before it, the second 

 four days after, and the third on the eighteenth day of this month, 

 or at any rate within two or three days of these periods ; for the dif- 

 ference occasioned at this time by one or two days will in a few weeks 

 be very perceivable and striking. In the eastern States, the first of 

 the month will be a suitable period for sowing a principal crop. 



The kinds proper to be sown now are the early Enfield, early Y.ork, 

 and early Battersea. 



Sow these seeds in beds of good garden mould, and either cover 

 or rake them in so that they may be lodged about a quarter of an 

 inch deep ; if the weather should prove dry, water the beds occasion- 

 ally in the evening till the plants are up, and in about five weeks 

 they will be fit for transplanting into their winter quarters, as di- 

 rected in October. 



SOWING CAULIFLOWER SEED. 



The critical period, in the middle States, for sowing cauliflower 

 seed, is between the twentieth and twenty-eighth of this month ; if 

 sown earlier the plants would be very subject to button (as the gar- 

 deners term it) or flower in April or early in May, which flowers sel- 

 dom exceed the size of a common button, and thereby the hopes and 

 expectations of the cultivator are lost. 



I would recommend to sow the seed at three different periods, say 

 the twentieth, twenty-fourth and twenty-eighth of this month ; for 

 each sowing let a small spot of rich ground be neatly dug, mark out 

 the bed three and a half feet wide, and immediately sow the seed 

 and rake it in carefully ; or you may first rake the bed smooth, and 

 with the back of the rake push the loose mould evenly off" the sur- 

 face for near half an inch deep into the alleys, one half to each side, 

 then sow the seed, and with a spade or shovel cast this shoved off 

 loose earth over it about a quarter of an inch deep, or a little more, 

 and finish by picking off the lumps or small stones with your hand, 

 or drawing them off neatly and lightly with the rake ; or you may 

 sow the seed on the smooth raked surface, and sift over it about a 

 quarter of an inch of light earth. 



Should the weather prove dry, water the bed both before and after 

 the plants are up, and in a month after sowing they must be trans- 

 planted into beds of good rich earth, covered with garden frames, at 

 the distance of three inches from one another, there to remain dur- 

 ing winter, and to be taken care of as directed in the following 

 months. ' 



In the southern States, the most forward of these may be finally 

 planted out in November, as directed on page 329, and covered with 

 bell or hand-glasses during winter; but in the middle or eastern 

 States this practice will not succeed on account of the severity of the 

 weather at that season. 



