AMERICAN HOME GARDEN. 125 



pie cape." The early white may be worth trying, and some- 

 times the cauliflower is sold by this name ; but the labor be- 

 stowed upon the late white is generally wasted. It is a large- 

 growing but profitless variety. 



The early purple cape is a somewhat surer crop than cauli- 

 flower, and seed of good stock is more readily obtained, but it 

 is so far inferior that, where cauliflower can be successfully 

 raised, it is sheer folly to plant the brocoli. 



The full directions given for raising cauliflower are equally 

 suitable for brocoli ; or, for the fall planting, the latter may be 

 treated precisely as directed for winter cabbages. 



BRUSSELS SPROUTS. 



French, Chou de Bruxelles. German, Sprossen Kohl. Spanish, Col de tallo 



de Bruselas. 



If raised at all, sow and treat in all respects as directed for 

 Savoy cabbage (which see), observing that in heeling in Brus- 

 sels sprouts for winter the earth must not cover that part of the 

 stems from which the sprouts grow. 



Brussels sprouts is a species of cabbage about as hardy as 

 the curled Savoy, which in growth it somewhat resembles. It 

 does not form a main head, but grows up with a considerable 

 stem, bearing at the top a pretty large bunch of leaves, of which 

 the outer ones are quite long, declining, and coarse ; the inner 

 or crown leaves, which are much stronger flavored than the Sa- 

 voy, become fit for use as greens only after the most thorough 

 freezing. 



The only valuable product of this plant consists in the 

 mass of " sprouts," or small button-like heads, with which, in 

 plants of good stock, the stem is thickly set, and which, being 

 covered by the overhanging leaves, become white, and form a 

 tender and pleasant dish when cut from under their slight cov- 

 ering in mid- winter, and carefully boiled in a net. 



The objection on account of lack of quantity in the product, 

 mentioned in the case of Savoy, holds still more strongly against 

 the Brussels sprouts ; neither has it any peculiar excellence to 

 balance this and its other defects. 



