82 THE CAULIFLOWER. 



dry. If the months of April and May are dry and 

 hot the crop results in a failure, from which, in our 

 dry and thirsty soil, no irrigation will save it. In 

 favorable seasons we have fine results, raising 

 heads from ten to sixteen inches in diameter. In 

 the perpetually damp and inexhaustibly fertile soil 

 of the alluvial lands in the Mobile Eiver delta 

 (marshes drained by ditching) the cauliflower is 

 raised in the greatest perfection, and is ready by 

 Christmas time for the home market, bringing 

 fancy prices. In such localities the early varieties, 

 particularly the Early Paris, are used, the seed be- 

 ing sown in August. Outside of these marshes the 

 early varieties are not grown, as they produce only 

 small and meagre heads. Among the later vari- 

 eties we find Algiers and Lenormand the best, 

 buying the seed from Vilmorin in Paris.' " 



Mr. J. N. Whitner, in his work on " Gardening in 

 Florida," recommends Early Snowball, Extra Early 

 Paris, and Extra Early Dwarf Erfurt. The seed 

 is sown in boxes in autumn and protected from 

 beating rains, and if sown before the middle of 

 October the plants are also protected from the 

 direct sun during the middle of the day. The 

 main crop is planted out before the first of Novem- 

 ber, and harvested the following spring. In the 

 northern portion of the state the plants are some- 

 times injured by the cold in winter. The crop is 



