84 



Cole Crops 



Cauliflower is difficult to grow to perfection in the 

 hotter and dryer parts of the country. Its requirements 

 are similar to those of the cabbage except that it is injured 

 by hot suns and dry weather, and it therefore needs a cool 

 and moist atmosphere. Along the seaboard of the North- 

 eastern States, near the Great Lakes, and in the Puget 

 Sound region, cauliflower is grown with success, as it is 

 also in special locations in many parts of the country. 

 Wherever irrigation can be practiced, it may also be grown 

 successfully. In the American climate the effort is usu- 

 ally made to secure the crop early or late and thereby to 

 avoid growing it in the heat of midsummer. When thus 

 grown, its range of adaptability is much extended. Under 

 this system, the early crop is usually off in June or July. 

 This crop is secured by growing the early varieties, as the 

 Snowball and Paris, and by starting the plants under glass. 

 The late crop is matured in autumn from seeds sown in 

 summer in seed-beds. For this crop some of the later and 

 larger-growing varieties may be used. In the southern- 

 most parts of the United States cauliflower is grown as a 

 winter crop from autumn-sown seeds. 



Every effort should be made to conserve the moisture by 

 deep preparation of the land in the first place and by fre- 

 quent surface tillage thereafter. Low but well-drained 

 bottom lands are usually chosen in order that the plants 

 may have a constant supply of moisture. On Long Island, 

 however, where the cauliflower is very largely grown, this 

 precaution is unnecessary, since the atmosphere is moist 

 from proximity to the ocean and the water-table is not 

 deep; in other coast regions the same may be true. In 

 small areas, mulching is sometimes advised to hold the 



