HORTICULTURE. 



249 



20lh Aogmt of the preceding year, in frames or beds. 

 .pttniber, the aeedlings are pricked, either in- 

 to a dry border near a wall, where they may be 

 " hooped over and defended with ba**-mats during the 

 severe frosts of winter, or into common glas* flaWa, 

 with two or three sliding lights. In the month of 

 March they are finally planted out, water being 

 given if the season be dry. They are placed in rows, 

 commonly about two feet and a half asunder, and two 

 feet apart in the rows. If the soil be not rich, less 

 distance may answer. It is a rule that cauliflower planu 

 slioukl never be set deep in the ground. The anbat 

 quent culture consists chiefly in repeated hoeing*, and 

 in drawing earth, or manure perhaps, dose up to the 

 J Htm*. Cauliflower plant* have justly bean 

 " rough feeders ;~ in fact, the more liberally 

 ting* of stable* and cow-houses are supplied, 

 the larger product may be expected. They also re- 

 i regular and free supplies of water, at least in dry 



A* the flower or head advances, aome of the 

 large outer leave* are bent or broken over above it, 

 partly to shade it from the sun, and partly to preserve 

 it from too much rain. 



287. To diversify the time of forming the heads, seme 

 of the early cauliflowers are planted out on different suc- 

 cearive occasions. But seed* sown in February or March 

 on a hot-bed, or in the front border of a stove or forcing- 

 hoast, afford young plant* to succeed those kept over 

 winter ; and by lowing again in May, pricking into nur- 

 i in June or the beginning of July, and Iran*. 

 r late, thi* delicate pot-herb is pro. 

 [the end of October. Even after this, the can. 



riou> device*. Samaamat tht plant* art raised with ball* 

 of earth, and asmkaMoriy to the head m tht bordtn of 

 peach or grape houses, or in comaaan gUa* frame*, m 

 and or very light dry earth ; and nuanimn they art 

 unly hamg up m a ahad or oot-hoow, and thus kept 

 for some week*. They hart been prawtrad in still 

 another way, described by Mr Smith, gardener at 

 Ketth-Hall in Scotland, (.Sco/mA Bart Kern. voL i. 

 o. 120,): He dig* a pit, about eighteen inches data, 

 near the bottom of a wall On a dry day be take* op 

 tht canliiower stock* in an entire state, and wrapping 

 the leave* round tht head, or flower, dapnaitt* that* m 

 tht trench, tot haada along downward., and the root* 



t tfi.- r >tt o! ,.nc Uy.-r 



tht top* of anotnar ; be tnen cover* up 

 closely with earth, preserving a slope from the wall, 

 and beatmgttsaaooth with the back rfthe spade, w that 

 rain may run off. In this way, tht caalsflower i* mid 

 t* keep good tall tot middle of January. 

 S8S. For tht early supply of tht Looden 



pots in the winter season, and kept in any convenient Kitcbe* 



part of the floor of a vinery, or other glazed house. In 



the beginning of March they are taken out of the pots, 



with the ball of earth attached, and planted in the open 



ground. If they be here protected against severe frosts 



with bell-glass covers, they come into head in the course 



of April, if the weather prove favourable. 



It may be mentioned, that in some places it is not an 

 uncommon practice to sow a little radish seed on the 

 .cauliflower ground, a fortnight before planting out the 

 cauliflowers. It is found that the flies, or larvae, which 

 infest the young plants, prefer the tender leaves of the 

 radish to those of the cauliflower, and that the latter 

 thus escape. Market gardeners often mix spinach seed 

 with the radish, but from a different motive; they 

 thus procure a useful crop soon after the cauliflower is 

 removed. More frequently, however, these gardener* 

 employ the cauliflower ground in producing a late crop 

 of cucumbers for pickling. 



When wed i* wished for, some of the best early 

 plants are selected, and left to flower, plenty of earth 

 being drawn up to their roots. The seed ripens in 

 September, but at various time*, on the different branch- 

 lets of the lame head, so that it is proper to gather it at 

 successive time* a* it appears ripe. 



Broccoli. 



tt9- Broccoli i* generally conaidered as merely a va- Broccoli. 

 ritty of cauliflower. It i* indeed nearly allied, and the 

 oaeful part consists, a* in cauliflower, of the clustered 

 * Sower-buds ; but the broccoli plant i* dis- 

 by it* cat leave*, it* larger growth, and 

 of hardiness. There are aeversl varie- 

 of broccoli, two of them particularly distinct, the 

 pit and the white. No culinary plant is so liable 

 to rpori a* broccoli ; so that new kinds, slightly differ- 

 ent, are continually coming into notice or favour, and 

 a* apeedily (inking into neglect. 



-he purple, there art several sub-varieties, the 

 early, dwarf, branching, and Cape broccoli, the hut but 

 lately introduced. What are called the brown and the 

 black broccoli are likewise slight variations of the pur- 

 ple. They art mart hardy, and better waled for ex- 

 posed situation* ; but they do not form head* so com- 

 pletely a* some other kind* ; the tender stems and 

 heart* of tht plant*, with the email head* on the lateral 

 branches, being tht part* chiefly oatd. The dwarf sul- 

 phur-coloured u much aateemed, and cultivated to great 

 patfcctsou near Edinburgh. By many, the sort called 

 green broecdii* accounted the best. The white, Neapo- 

 litan, or cauliflower-broccoli punt, i* rather more tender 

 than tht other*, bat tht flower i* at the same time more 

 palatable ; it form* a close curdly head of considerable 



give* a atraonr a forcible idea of the rw 

 of the capital Two, three, or even four L 

 first, placed under each gtaaa ; in fint weather, tht < 

 ar M tilted in order to admit air. When tht pi*"*- 

 art auuMwhat advanced, in tht end of February or be- 

 ginning of March, tht apart plant* art removed with a 

 coop-trowel, and planted oat separately, leaving one, 

 or at most two, ander tht gutas. The plant* thus left 

 under the cover* are ready for market m the end of 

 April or begmnin*; of May. and (etch a high price. A 

 tthnd of predating cauliflower pretty early, and with 

 great crrtamty, i* this; Tht plant* arc set in small 

 vat. xi. rA*T u 



awe in tot aping month*, and the plants do not branch 

 a* moat of the purple kinds d... A hardy variety of 

 the white would therefore prove a great acquisition. 



890. Broccoli seed k town in April fur an autumn 

 crop, to be planted out in the beginning of June ; and, 

 for a spring crop in the folk) wing year, the seed H 

 own late in May, or even in June. The seedling* are 

 afterward* placed in nursery beds, where they remain 

 till the middle or end of July, when they are finally 

 transplanted. A light, but deep and rich soil, in an open 

 situation, i* preferred. To those situated near the aw, 

 it may be interesting to know, that sea-weed form* an 

 excellent manure for broccoli. In the wound volume 

 of Scottish Horticultural Memoir*, p. 2trt, Mr William 

 2.1 



