KITCHEN-GARDEN VEGETABLES. 
made to grow rapidly; a slow, regular, sub- 
stanial growth is what we should endeavour 
to promote. If the weather be unusually mild 
for the season, let the plants have as much air 
and light as possible; they will then better 
resist the effects of continued severe weather 
which may subsequently occur. 
The sowing should be made about the middle 
of February, on a moderate hot-bed. When 
fit, the plants should be pricked out as directed 
for the autumn sowing; they may very well 
occupy the frames in which Lettuce plants 
have been wintered. They should be planted 
out, some in the end of April and some in 
May; Dean’s Snowball to be 18 inches asunder 
in rows 2 feet apart; the Walcheren and Dwarf 
Erfurt, 2 feet apart each way; the others, 24 
by 2 feet. If the potting system be adopted, 
sow the Walcheren about the middle of Febru- 
ary; pot and shift as before directed. Where 
this system is not adopted it is advisable to 
have some portion in pots, as, In case of emer- 
gency, recourse could be had to various means 
of bringing in the potted plants for use, when 
a failure in the supply might otherwise occur. 
Besides the sowing in the middle of February 
for a principal succession crop, a small sowing 
may be made in heat in the first week in Janu- 
ary, in case of clubbing or other accident to 
the autumn-sown plants; and another small 
sowing, also on gentle heat, may be made in 
the beginning of March. 
Late Spring Sowing.—In the first week in 
April a sowing should be made in the open 
border. The plants may be pricked out, when 
fit, to 6 inches apart by 4 inches, but generally 
they are allowed to remain in the seed-bed till 
required to be finally planted out in June. 
This sowing should include Walcheren, as it 
is not so liable to form buttoned heads as the 
other kinds. 
Veitch’s Autumn Giant ought to be the most 
extensively grown. If good batches of this 
invaluable variety are raised in February under 
glass and again early in April in the open, these 
would carry on the supply till autumn Broccoli 
are abundant, this quite obviating the necessity 
for sowing the smaller and less reliable varieties 
so late as formerly—or say, later than March 
or earlyin April. If extra fine heads of this or 
any other Cauliflower are desired, give occasional 
thorough soakings of liquid manure, more espe- 
cially when hearting commences. The heads 
may be cut when they are 24 inches in dia- 
meter, and from that till they attain their full 
size, but before they lose their compactness. 
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They should be protected from caterpillars, and 
never be exposed to sunlight, which spoils their 
whiteness. 
Preservation from Frost.—When the head of 
a Cauliflower has once commenced to form, 
it will increase in size in the dark and 
without the assistance of the roots, if kept in 
a mild temperature. It draws substances for 
its formation out of the succulent stem; the 
heads may therefore be preserved for use, for 
a considerable time, by any means that will 
secure them from frost and damp. A nearly 
steady temperature, between 40° and 45°, will 
maintain vegetation; a gentle circulation of air 
will be sufficient, for if too great it would be 
apt to exhaust the juices of the plant, and to 
render the heads tough. Some recommend 
suspending the plant head downwards in a 
place free from damp; others take up and 
replant in dry sandy soil in an open shed: this 
is a more natural plan than the preceding. 
Some bury the heads in dry earth, leaving a 
portion of the root sticking out above the 
ground to lay hoid of in pulling up the plant. 
The head may also be divested of most of the 
leaves, and buried in peat. By these and 
similar means Cauliflowers may be preserved 
in a fit state, so far as appearance goes, and 
even very good as regards flavour if no decayed 
leaves are allowed to remain. 
Large bell-glasses, with night-caps of frigi- 
domo, would answer well for protecting dwarf 
Cauliflowers from such frosts as usually occur 
in November, or even till near the end of De- 
cember. Glazed protections to extend along 
a row could be constructed at little expense. 
They might be in the form of a ridge-roof, or 
they might be 6 feet in length and 18 inches 
in breadth, with an upright glazed front 15 
inches high, a wooden back 18 inches high, and 
a glazed top hinged to the back sloping 3 inches 
to the front, and adapted for readily giving air 
when the weather permits. 
Forcing.—Since the introduction of extra late 
Broccoli, which carry on the supply till quite 
late in May, there has been far less need for 
forcing Cauliflowers. Asa rule the latter can 
be had, with the aid of hand-lights, quite as 
early as wanted, but there are seasons when 
Broccoli are destroyed wholesale by a severe 
frost. It may then be very desirable to forward 
Cauliflowers as much as possible. They will 
not stand hard forcing. Reference has already 
been made to a plan of forwarding adopted by 
the French, and a modification of this practice 
might well be tried in this country, rough 
