40 



THE CAULIFLOWER. 



Or the leaves may be fastened with a butcher's 

 skewer, or any sharp stick. In Florida, orange 

 thorns are employed for this purpose. Care must 

 be taken not to confine the heads too closely, or 

 they will grow out of shape, besides being liable to 

 heat and become spotted. Later in the season, 

 when the weather is cool and damp, the leaves will 

 be too stiff to be bent down, and the head must 

 then be protected either by placing over it leaves 

 broken from the outer part of the plant, or from 

 stumps from which the heads have already been 

 cut, or by tying the leaves together above the head. 

 The latter is the usual method, rye straw or bast 

 matting being generally used for the purpose. 

 Merely breaking down the inner leaves upon the 

 head is unsatisfactory, as the growth, both of the 

 leaves and the head, soon causes the head to be- 

 come exposed. 



The artificial blanching of the head is most im- 

 portant early in the season, while the sun is hot, 

 and the field should then be gone over as often as 

 every other day for this purpose, taking two rows 

 at a time. Later in the season, during damp, 

 cloudy weather, heads will sometimes reach full 

 size and still be of good color though entirely ex- 

 posed. It is unsafe to leave them in this way, 

 however, as a little change in color seriously affects 

 their market value. Covering the heads appears 



