24° The Canadian Horticulturist. 



leaf under lo hold all in place. Or the leaves may be fastened by a butcher's 

 skewer, or any sharp stick. In Florida, orange thorns are employed for this pur- 

 pose. 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 bases 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 

 exposed. 



The artificial blanching of the head is most important 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, dur- 

 ing damp, cloudy weather, heads will sometimes reach full size and still be of 

 good color though entirely exposed. It is unsafe to leave them in this way, how- 

 ever, as a little change in color seriously affects their market value. Covering 

 the heads appears also to cause them to grow larger and remain solid longer than 

 they otherwise would, particularly early in the season. 



Retarding and Accelerating Heading. — It will sometimes happen early 

 in the season that one desires to retard the development of the head until the 

 convenient time for marketing. For this purpose the plants may be lifted when 

 the heads are nearly mature, and set under a shed or elsewhere in the shade. 



It may be well here to remind those who grow only a few plants in a garden, 

 and who wish to prolong the season, that several cuttings may be taken from a 

 single head if desired. A portion of the head should be left each time. 

 Occasionally, but not often, a stump will sprout and form a second crop. A 

 method of accelerating the formations of heads, which is practised in Ireland, 

 may also be worth recording. It consists in slitting the stalk from near the 

 ground upward toward the heart, and placing a stick in the slit to prevent the 

 parts uniting. The soil is then drawn up around the cut, and the plant staked to 

 prevent it breaking off. It is said that plants so treated will form their heads 

 from six to eight days earlier than they otherwise would. 



Cooking. — Four rules, never to be deviated from, may be laid down ; first, 

 that the cauliflower is to be soaked in salt and water for at least a half-hour be- 

 fore cooking, in order to drive out any insects or worms that maj be lurking 

 among the flowerets ; second (if to be boiled,) when ready for cooking, the 

 vegetable is to be plunged into salted, thoroughly boiling water ; third, it is not 

 to be cooked a moment after it becomes tender ; fourth, to be served as soon as 

 done. Neglect of any of these points is sure to result in failure, while a careful 

 following of them will give a wholesome, delicate dish, and one that will be eaten 

 with gusto and remembered with pleasure. 



