614 



PRACTICE OF GARDENING. 



Vakt II L 



S549. Second spring-raised crop. " The next and last sowing is for the late autumn and winter crop, 

 commonly called the Michaelmas crop : to be made towards the twenty-fourth of May, in a bed of light 

 earth. Prick out the j'oung plants in June, to remain in the intermediate bed till about the middle of 

 July ; then to be transplanted two feet and a half asunder. Give occasional watering till they have taken 

 good root. They will begin to produce heads in October, but the fruit will be of superior size in Novem- 

 ber and December, if temperate weather follow." 



3550. Final culture of the thi-ee crops. "With respect to the culture of the different crops after being 

 finally transplanted, it is to hoc the ground occasionally, in order to cut down weeds, and as well to loosen 

 the earth, and draw some round the stems of the plants. When the early crops are nearly advanced to 

 full growth, in May and June, one or two good waterings to the roots will contribute to their producing 

 largo heads. In the dry weather of meridian summer, water those not in flower twice a-week ; and those 

 in flower, every second day. As the flower-heads show themselves, turn down some of the larger leaves, 

 to defend them from sun and rain, and to preserve them white and close, in perfection." {Abercro?nbie.) 



3551. Crop for winter use. Cockburn sows the seeds of early cauliflower in a south border in tlie be- 

 ginning of July, thins to 12 or l-l- inches apart, and in November finds heads produced from ten to thirty 

 inches in circimiference. He then removes them with balls, and plants them so as their heads do not 

 touch in earth, in a shed which will keep out ten degrees of beat. All decayed leaves are taken off, and 

 when severe frost occurs, the plants are covered with dry short hay. " By this management," he says, 

 " I have been able to send three dishes of the cauliflowers to table every week during the autumn and 

 winter, and shall be able to continue to do so till February." {Hort. Trans, v. 281.) 



3552. Preserving during ivinter. For this purpose it is usual to pull up the plant entire, and hang it up in 

 a shed or cellar, or to lay the plants in sand in cellars or sheds, covering the flower with the leaves, and 

 being careful to remove every decayed part as it appears. When a shed or cellar is not at hand for this 

 purpose, a mode may be resorted to which has been adopted by Smith, and described by him in the Calcd. 

 Hort. Mem., vol. i. p. 129., and which consists in burying the entire plant in a pit about eighteen inches 

 deep, dug along the bottom of a wall. On a dry day he takes up the plant, and wrapping the leaves round 

 the head of the flower, deposits them in the trench, the heads sloping downwards, and the roots extending 

 upwards, so that the roots of the one layer cover the tops of another. Next, he covers up the whole closely 

 with earth, sloping it from the wall, and beating it smooth with the back of the spade, so that rain may- 

 run off. In this way he preserves it in a good state from November to January. The best mode, however, 

 of prolonging the cauliflower season, is by raising the plants with balls, and trench-planting them in 

 frames, or the borders of peach or grape houses not in action, taking care to keep the soil dry, and to re- 

 move decaying leaves ; or, where frames are in sufficient quantity, to place a few over the plants as they 

 stand in the compartment. 



3553. To save seed. " Mark arid leave some of the prime plants of the thoroughly 

 nursed early and main crops in May and June, when the flower-heads are in highest 

 perfection ; as those of late production will not ripen seed effectually. Tlie stools will 

 afford ripe seed in September ; when be careful to watch the chaffinches, green-birds, &c. 

 and to gather the branches as the seed upon them ripens. Lay them elevated from the 

 ground, in some sunny, airy situation, to dry and harden to full maturity : after which 

 let the seed be beaten and rubbed out, cleaned and sifted from the husky parts, spread on 

 a cloth to di-y tlie whole equally; and then put up for sowing the following year." 

 {Abercromhie. ) 



3554. Insects. Cauliflower-plants, when first planted out, are frequently infested 

 with flies, or their larvffi, to attract which, it is not uncommon to sow a little radish-seed 

 on the cauliflower ground a fortnight before transplanting ; the flies prefen-ing the tender- 

 leaves of the radish to those of the cauliflower, the latter are thus suffered to escape. 



SuBSECT. 7. Broccoli. — Bra^sica oleracea, a sub variety of var. e. hotrytis, L. and Dec. 

 Broccoli, Fr. ; Italieniscke Kohl, Ger. ; and Broccoli, Ital. 



3555. The few broccolis that were known in Miller's time are supposod to have pro- 

 ceeded from the cauliflower, which was originally imported from the Isle of Cyprus^ 

 about the middle of the 16th century. Miller mentions the white and purple broccoli as 

 coming from Italy ; and it is conjectured, that from these two sorts all the subsequent 

 kinds have arisen, either by accidental or premeditated impregnations. 



3556. Use. The same as the cauliflower. 



3557. Subvarieties. Neill observes, that "no culinary plant is so liable to sport as broccoli ; so that new 

 kinds, slightly different, are continually coming into notice or favor, and as speedily sinking into neglect." 

 Tlie common characteristic of broccoli, as distinguished from cauliflower, is color \n the flower and leaves, 

 and a comparatively hardy constitution to stand the winter. Maher observes {Hort. Trans, vol. i. 

 p. 116.), that as all plants of the brassica tribe become less alkalescent, and more palatable in proportion 

 as they approach to a pale or white color, such x'arieties of broccoli will undoubtedly be preferable to pur- 

 ple ones, if they turn out equally hardy. H. Ronalds, of Brentford, has given {Hort. Trans, vol. iii.) a 

 DescHption of the different sorts of Broccoli, with an Account of the Method of cultivating them, from which 

 we shall chiefly compose this article. The sorts which follow are placed in the order in which they come 

 in perfection to table. 



3558. Purple cape, or autwnnal broccoli^ This has a close, compact head, of a beautiful purple color ; 

 the leaves are nearly entire, erect, concave, lobed at bottom, and much waved, short, and regularly sur. 

 rounding the head ; the veins and mid-rib are stained with purple, which stain is a test of its being true ; 

 the head is exposed to the view in growing ; in general it is not very large ; as it enlarges, the projecting 

 parts of the flower show a greenish-white, mixed with the purple color. WTien boiled, the whole flower 

 becomes green. If the season is showery, and this variety is planted in good ground, it comes as large as 

 cauliflower. 



3559. Culture of the purple broccoli. Sown about the middle of May, and beginning and end of June, it 

 w^ill produce in regular succession from August to December, or until frost destroy the heads. Sown in 

 July and August, if the winter is mild, it will bring good heads in spring. W^hen sown in the beginning 

 of September, and the plants preserved in frames as cauliflowers, fine heads may be expected in the 

 months of June and July. Thus, by good management, this kind may be in use during the greater part 

 of the year ; but it is not hardy enough to be depended on for the winter months. The plants grow from 

 cane foot to one foot and a half high, and should be placed about two feet apart in every direction. 



3560. Maher's 9node of treating the pitrple broccoli is as follows T " Three crops are sewn annuallv : the 

 first between the 12th and 18th of April ; a second between the 18th and 24th of Mav ; the third between 

 the 19th and 25th of August : these successive crops supply the family from September till the end of May. 

 The seeds are scattered exceedingly thii], in a border of very rich light earth. Not a weed is suflTered to- 



