BRASSICACEOUS PLANTS.— THE BROCCOLI. 



93 



and onward till Christmas. Another 

 sowing of the same kind should be made 

 during the second week of June for 

 the south, and not later than the first 

 week for the north. These will stand 

 over winter, and come in early in spring. 

 Plants from the first of these sowings 

 should be transplanted for good about the 

 first of June, having been previously 

 pricked into a nursery-bed, to give them 

 strength and abundance of roots. Other 

 varieties, of which there is a great num- 

 ber, should be sown about the second and 

 third week in May for the south, and ten 

 days earlier in the north ; and, if trans- 

 planted about the middle of June, will, 

 from their difference in growth, produce 

 their heads during March, April, and 

 May. As a general rule, calculating upon 

 the kinds, for an autumn supply sow in 

 April, for a spring supply in May, making 

 an allowance of a fortnight between sow- 

 ing at London and at Edinburgh, unless 

 slight artificial heat in the latter case is 

 had recourse to. The mode of sowing, 

 the quantity of seed, and the earliest man- 

 agement are the same as for early cabbage 

 (which see). Transplanting has been ob- 

 jected to by some as having a tendency to 

 cause such early sorts as the white and pur- 

 ple Cape to button, as it is technically called 

 — that is, to run up prematurely to flower, 

 before the plant is suf&ciently strong to 

 bring the flower to perfection. And the 

 means employed is to trench and manure 

 the ground in May, to tread it firmly down, 

 and to sow the seeds in lines 2 feet apart, 

 dropping three or four seeds into each 

 hole, made at the distance of 2 feet apart 

 from each other. When the plants come up, 

 they are all destroyed except the strongest, 

 leaving one in each hole. The ground is 

 kept deeply stirred during summer, and 

 the plants are earthed up in the usual 

 manner. The same mode has been re- 

 commended for early-sown cauliflower, 

 lettuce, (fee. We think careful trans- 

 planting preferable. 



Subsequent culture. — This is the same as 

 for early cabbage. The distance apart 

 must ever be governed by the size of 

 the variety — thus, for example, Knight's 

 dwarf protecting wiU require only 18 

 inches plant from plant; while the larger- 

 growing kinds, such as Elletson's gigantic 

 k,te white, should be set 3 feet distant row 

 from row, and the plants 2 feet apart in the 



VOL. II. 



line. Much, however, in this depends on 

 the soil and its state of cultivation. Deep 

 stirring of the ground between the rows 

 is all they require during the rest of the 

 summer. It is only in very cold and 

 damp localities, and in very inclement 

 winters, that broccoli requires protection 

 during winter ; but it is advisable, with 

 all the kinds intended to stand over till 

 spring, to lay them over in November, 

 which operation is performed by opening 

 a trench at one end of the field, forming 

 the back in a slanting direction, taking 

 up the plants with as much earth about 

 their roots as possible, removing two or 

 three of the lower leaves, and setting 

 them in the trench inclining towards the 

 sloping bank, and covering up the roots 

 and stems close to where the first pair of 

 leaves issue. If the ground is much on 

 the incline, begin at the lower part, so 

 that the leaves of the plants may point 

 downwards, to prevent the snow and rain 

 settling in their hearts. This process not 

 only prevents the weight of snow break- 

 ing down the leaves, but, by the check 

 the plant sustains, causes the fibre of the 

 leaves to assume a more tough and less 

 succulent form by lessening the supply of 

 food by the roots, and thus renders them 

 less hable to injury from frost. In very 

 unfavourable situations, the plants, when 

 fully grown, may be carefully taken from 

 the exposed part of the garden and re- 

 planted in the above manner in a more 

 dry, warm, and sheltered place. It is, 

 however, imprudent to set them in a 

 damp or shaded situation. 



When broccoli has attained its full 

 size, which it will have done in most 

 situations by the middle of November, 

 the plants might be taken up carefuUy 

 and disposed of as we have suggested 

 (see post) for full-grown celery. This, in 

 moderate climates, may be uncalled for, 

 but in less favoured places it would secure 

 their preservation, and at the same time 

 clear the ground either for other crops, or 

 for improvement by trenching, &c. In 

 such cases the ridges should run in an 

 east and west direction, the earliest kinds 

 being placed with their heads towards 

 the south, while the later sorts should 

 have theirs in the opposite direction. 

 This position would tend to accelerate 

 the one and retard the other. A bank of 

 broccoli thus arranged could easily be 



