118 THE CAULIFLOWER. 



the soil about two inches, and, with a light shove 

 to one side, lift the plant without disturbing the 

 roots; fill our tray and start for the field; run the 

 barrow between two rows and set a can and plant 

 in each of the holes just made. A boy follows with 

 a watering pot containing warm water, and pours a 

 gill into each tube, which softens the soil so that 

 the tubes can be lifted right out, leaving the plant 

 standing in the hole. We brush a little dirt around 

 the plant, and firm it with the blade of the hoe. 



"Now we have our plants set, and not one ever 

 wilts in the hottest spring day. In two or three 

 days the cultivator is started and kept a going once 

 a week until the heads begin to form. We hand- 

 hoe three or four times, besides fighting insects. 

 The cabbage maggot is our worst enemy. 



" When the flowers commence to bloom out or 

 form heads, is the most particular time. A man 

 who thoroughly understands what a perfect cauli- 

 flower is, must now go through the field every two 

 or three days and examine every head, and if there 

 is any sign of its growing in quarters, or if a leaf 

 is growing through the head, or if there is any 

 looseness in its growth, the heads are staked and 

 cut for market. For, as like produces like, it will 

 never do to get seed from an inferior head, 

 especially in the case of cauliflowers; for the seeds 

 from these are more apt to run wild than any seed 



