208 



THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 



WATERING AND MULCHING. 

 Mulching with manure in hot sum- 

 mers is to this crop invaluable, and, 

 except in extreme cases, will obviate 

 the necessity for much watering, 

 though, of course, a good soaking of 

 liquid manure in a dry season will 

 never come amiss. The three 

 sowings in the open air in April, 

 May, and June, with the previous 

 sowings under glass, will, if planted 

 out in the usual order when the plants 

 are large enough, furnish a supply 

 from June till Christmas, if need be ; 

 indeed, I have had both the Wal- 

 cheren and the Autumn Giant till 

 after Christmas in good condition in 

 a cold pit. The distances between 

 the rows, as well as the distance 

 between the plants in the rows, will 

 vary according to the situations and 

 seasons, but 2 ft. between the rows, 

 and 1 8 in. separating the plants 

 from each other in the rows, may be 

 taken as a good average distance. 

 E. H. 



CULTURE IN MARKET GARDENS. 

 In London, it is hardly possible 

 to overstock the market with this 

 vegetable. It has the advantage 

 over Broccoli in this particular, viz. 

 that pickle merchants are always 

 ready to buy up any quantity of 

 Cauliflowers in summer, whilst for 

 this purpose scarcely any Broccoli is 

 used. In May, before Peas and 

 Beans can be had at reasonable 

 prices, good Cauliflowers realise 

 good profits to the grower. Early 

 Cauliflowers are usually grown under 

 hand-lights, or are protected by 

 old baskets or small boughs of ever- 

 green trees. To provide plants for 

 this purpose, a sowing is made on a 

 well-sheltered piece of ground or a 

 warm open quarter, in beds, in the 

 second or third week of September. 

 The young plants are allowed to 

 remain in the seed-bed until the end 

 of October, or even the middle of 



November. Should frosty weather 

 set in whilst the plants are in the 

 seed-beds, they are protected by 

 mats supported on short stakes 18 

 in. above the ground. Sometimes 

 a stout plank is set on edge along the 

 centres of the beds, and two rows of 

 short stakes are put one on either 

 side to support it, and over this are 

 placed mats. When the weather 

 becomes too severe for them to be 

 thus protected, and when they re- 

 quire to be transplanted, they are 

 taken up and planted in frames or 

 under hand-lights. The frames are 

 placed in a sheltered spot sloping 

 to the south, and are filled to within 

 8 or 9 in. of the top with ordinary 

 soil firmly trampled down with the 

 feet ; over this better soil is sifted to 

 a thickness of 3 or 4 in., and in this 

 the Cauliflowers are planted 3 in. 

 or so apart. In this position they 

 remain until the February following 

 or early part of March without any 

 further care beyond that of closing 

 the sashes to exclude frosts, cold 

 winds, hail, or rain, and tilting them 

 up at front and back during favour- 

 able weather, and on very fine days 

 drawing them off entirely. Cold 

 rains are very injurious to Cauli- 

 flowers, but a warm shower in 

 February benefits them. Sometimes 

 the plants grow so strongly that 

 their leaves touch or press against 

 the sashes ; when that happens, the 

 sashes are tilted up at front and back, 

 night and day, with pieces of wood 

 or brick, otherwise frost would in- 

 jure such leaves as touch the glass.- 

 Dry sand, kept in a shed for the 

 purpose, is scattered amongst the 

 plants two or three times while they 

 are in frames, in order to guard 

 against damp,, and such plants as 

 show signs of " buttoning " are im- 

 mediately pulled out to give the 

 others more room. Where room is 

 limited and the weather appears 



