158 BROCOLI. 



as they are wanted. If any cut or fracture ensue, 

 the juice drains off in the boiling, and the pulp is 

 rendered useless. Let the pit be made in dry 

 ground, six inches deep, two feet wide, and of such 

 length as the bulk of the crop may require. Lay 

 the roots across the trench, in layers, with earth 

 between; and thus, as their position is known, they 

 are easily exhumated without inflicting any wound. 

 The pit should be ridged up and beaten smooth, to 

 turn off the rain. 



Brocoli. This is one of the best of vegetables, 

 and comes in a season of no great plenty. It is 

 now unfailing in many gardens where, half a century 

 ago, it was as little to be seen as a pine-apple. It 

 may be tried in any climate, even though it should 

 often fail, as no loss of ground is sustained by the 

 trial. The plants are set in good time after a crop 

 of peas or early potatoes has been removed ; and 

 the brocoli again is out of the way in due season 

 for being succeeded by various summer crops. It 

 is not necessary to be troubled with the many va- 

 rieties of this plant. The sulphur is the best, and 

 should grow, being well manured, to a circumference 

 of from twenty to thirty inches of solid flower one 

 stock yielding a perfect feast to a whole family. 

 For an autumn crop, the seed is sown in April; and 

 for a spring crop next year, it is sown in the end of 

 May. The winter sometimes proves too hard for this 

 plant, and may cause the loss of half your crop; but 

 plant on, as the ground is not lost, and in general 

 you will have pleasant food instead of waste land, 



