b 
The early dwarf types are the best for the home garden, The seed is expensive, but more sure to give heads. Dry Weather a good ali round kind for the amateur 
Home-grown Cauliflowers All the Y ear Round—By E. D. Darlington, "2 
THE FACTORS THAT GOVERN QUALITY IN THIS MOST ELUSIVE MEMBER OF THE CABBAGE FAMILY, AND HOW 
TO SELECT VARIETIES TO SUIT YOUR PECULIAR CONDITIONS FOR A SUCCESSION OF SNOWY WHITE HEADS 
AULIFLOWER is the most highly 
appreciated and most delicately fla- 
vored of all the great cabbage family, and 
is generally regarded as being the most diffi- 
cult to grow. This idea is somewhat erroneous 
—good cauliflower can be grown quite 
easily if the soil and climatic conditions are 
favorable, but it is not a crop that can be 
grown equally well in all regions. It likes 
a cooler temperature than is found in most 
sections of the country, and it also revels 
in an abundant supply of moisture during 
the summer and early fall months. ‘These 
ideal conditions are met with on Long 
Island and also in the valleys of the Pacific 
Coast, in both of which regions a moisture- 
laden atmosphere (as a result of the nearness 
of the sea) and deep, loose soil are found. 
Cauliflower is therefore essentially a local 
crop, commercially speaking, but the soil 
requirements can be provided in nearly 
every garden. I have been growing cauli- 
flower for thirty years; the soil is a heavy 
loam retentive of moisture and has been 
“made rich by heavy manuring and turning 
under green cover crops in the spring. 
The secret of a good cauliflower — one 
that combines tenderness and delicacy of 
flavor —is continuous rapid growth, which 
can only occur where the soil is sufficiently 
deep to hold a proper supply of moisture. 
The ideal cauliflower is one that has a 
properly blanched “curd” of snowy white- 
ness, even, uniform texture, and the absence 
of small green leaves sprouting between the 
sections comprising the head. This last 
condition has been attained by the careful 
selection of the best heads for seed purposes, 
and there are great differences in the various 
strains that are offered in the trade. The 
highest type is necessarily expensive, and 
if you would have the best cauliflowers you 
must buy the best seed even if it does cost 
five dollars an ounce. 
The critical time for cutting the head is 
when it has reached its full size, but before 
the curd shows any separation, which 
indicates the starting of the flower shoots. 
326 
Heads that remain on the plant after this 
time show a sort of granulated appearance 
and a slight discoloration. The idea that 
any poor sort of head is suitable for pickling 
is misleading. One that is not good enough 
for the table is not yood enough to pickle, 
although the better portions of damaged 
heads may, of course, be used. A dis- 
colored, tough, or inferior head will make 
a dark colored, poor pickle. 
Varieties or strains of cauliflower have been 
divided by selection into two types, the early 
and the late. ‘The seed of the first or dwarf 
type is produced in cold, northern sections 
— the further north, the earlier and dwarfer 
is the strain. Seed of this is the most expen- 
sive because the crop is produced under 
practically garden conditions. Seed of the 
later, larger kinds is produced in a warmer 
climate and is comparatively cheap. But 
the late varieties take a long season for 
growth, they occupy as much space as the 
largest cabbages, and there is some uncer- | 
tainty as to their ever heading. The home 
