120 THE CAULIFLOWER. 



"The expense and trouble are not over yet. The 

 seed is ripening about the time our rainy season 

 sets in, and we don't see the sun once a week on 

 an average, so that our seed must all be dried by 

 fire heat. Our dry -houses are 30 x 20 feet, and 

 18 feet high with 2x6 inch joists running across 

 the houses in tiers, on which we hang the seeds 

 for drying. A brick furnace is built in the middle 

 of the house, with the flue running through the 

 roof. 



" We usually make three cuttings. As soon as the 

 pods on the center stalks begin to turn yellow, and 

 the seed a light brown, we make our first cutting. 

 From one to three plants are put in a pile and tied 

 with binding twine. The bundles are taken to the 

 dry -house on wheelbarrows, made with racks on 

 purpose for carrying the seeds. A cloth is spread 

 over the rack to catch any shelling seeds. A man 

 carries about 100 bunches at a load and passes 

 them up to a man in the house who hangs them on 

 nails driven for the purpose. The seed is allowed 

 to hang a few days to thoroughly ripen before 

 firing up. We aim to keep the heat in the top of 

 the house at about 80 until the seed and stalks 

 are dry. 



"The bundles are now taken down and laid upon 

 a cloth where they are crushed by walking on them. 

 Grain sacks are then filled with the stalks and pods 



