102 CULTIVATED VEGETABLES. 



from caulis a stalk, and fero to bear. Gerard 

 says, " The white cabbage is best next to 

 the cole flourey ; yet Cato doth chiefly com- 

 mend the russed cole, but he knew neither 

 the whites, nor the cole flourey, for if he 

 had, his censure had been otherwise." But 

 we find it noticed by the Roman herbalist of 

 later days, who observes, that of all kinds of 

 coleworts, the sweetest and pleasantest to 

 the taste is the cole florie, although of no 

 value in medicine, and unwholesome, as 

 being hard of digestion, and an enemy to 

 the kidneys. 



Pierre Pompes says, cauliflower " comes to 

 us in Paris, by way of Marseilles, from the 

 Isle of Cyprus, which is the only place I know 

 of where it seeds." From this account it 

 would appear, that cauliflowers were not 

 much cultivated in France in 1694, when his 

 work was published ; and the French have 

 at present no distinct name for this vegetable, 

 but call it Choufleur, viz. cabbage flower. 



Cauliflowers are now cultivated in this 

 country with such care and success, that they 

 exceed, in goodness and magnitude, all in 

 Europe. Our gardeners furnish us with an 

 early and a late variety, both of which are 

 much esteemed at table, either plain boiled 



