CHAPTER V. 



CAULIFLOWER. 



THERE is probably no vegetable which is capable of 

 profitable forcing in America concerning which so little 

 has been written in reference to its treatment under glass 

 as cauliflower. It is true that the literature of vegetable 

 forcing is very meagre in this country, and it is, therefore, 

 little wonder that the cauliflower, which is scarcely known 

 as a winter crop outside the establishments of wealthy 

 persons who employ gardeners, should have received so 

 little attention from writers. It should be said that in 

 speaking of the forcing of cauliflowers, reference is made 

 to the practice of growing them under glass to maturity 

 in the cold months, and not to the much commoner prac- 

 tice of growing them to a large size under frames or sash- 

 covered houses and stripping the sash off upon the ap- 

 proach of warm weather and allowing them to mature 

 without cover. The management of cauliflowers under 

 glass is a simple matter, particularly in houses which are 

 adapted to lettuce, so that it is unnecessary to make any 

 extended account of the operation. A sketch of some of 

 the experiments made at Cornell will sufficiently indicate 

 the methods to be employed. 



Unsuccessful experiments. In our first crop, the 

 seeds were sown in "flats" or shallow boxes, and the 

 young plants were transplanted into pots. When the 

 plants were 8 or 10 inches high they had been shifted 

 to 8-inch pots, and knowing that cauliflowers delight 

 in a low temperature, the pots were set upon the ground 

 (108) 



