BROCCOLI 



219 



spade will do it, and working in 

 some well-decayed manure at the 

 same time, the soil being broken up 

 well in the trench, and the surface 

 a little rough. Plant as soon as the 

 digging is finished. If the planting 

 be done in June or July, from 2^ to 

 3 ft. must be allowed between the 

 plants ; if deferred till August, they 

 need not be allowed so much room. 

 If the weather be dry, the seed-bed, 

 or that from which the plants are 

 taken, should be watered well the 

 night before, to soften the soil. The 

 holes to receive the plants should 

 always be made sufficiently large to 

 admit of their being easily put in 

 without breaking their roots. " But- 

 toned " and stunted plants are in 

 many cases caused by bad planting. 

 They are put in with broken and 

 mutilated roots ; and those that have 

 a tap-root often have it bent double 

 in getting it into the hole, and, 

 instead of the point being at the 

 bottom of the hole, it will be stick- 

 ing up above the surface. No one 

 should wait a very long time for wet 

 weather in which to plant Broccoli : 

 it is better to get the planting done 

 and water well once or twice, and 

 the plants will then do till rain 

 comes. When the plants are fairly 

 established, and have grown a little, 

 they must be earthed up with the 

 hoe, which will prevent the wind 

 from tw^isting them about and dis- 

 turbing their young roots. 



Soil and Manure. — Broccoli 

 thrives best in a deep, loamy, well- 

 drained soil ; but it is not very 

 particular in this respect, and will 

 produce fine heads in any well- 

 enriched soil of which the staple is 

 loam. In old garden soils in which 

 humus has accumulated, it is often 

 attacked with the grub or maggot, 

 which causes " clubbing." In such 

 cases lime may be applied with 

 advantage, or burnt clay and fresh 



loam. The ground should be 

 trenched two or three spades deep 

 previous to planting, and the 

 manure, if rotten, well incorporated 

 with the soil, or, if rank, buried in 

 the bottom of the trench. If 

 trenching cannot be done, then 

 Broccoli should follow some other 

 crop, such as Potatoes or Onions, 

 or any crop not belonging to the 

 Cruciferae or tap-rooted section, such 

 as Carrots, Turnips, or Beet, and the 

 ground should be dug as deeply as 

 a good spade will go, and w^ell 

 manured. Where the soil in which 

 Broccoli is to be planted is naturally 

 of a light character, if moderately 

 rich, it should not be dug, but 

 made as firm as possible round the 

 plants. The best kind of manure 

 for Broccoli is undoubtedly w^ell- 

 rotted stable manure, with a sprink- 

 ling of soot added to destroy worms. 

 Watering is seldom necessary after 

 plants get well established. 



Heeling-in Broccoli. — As re- 

 gards the heeling-in or layering of 

 Broccoli, many growers think it a 

 great advantage, whilst others think 

 it at least unnecessary. As a rule, 

 private growlers are in favour of the 

 practice of layering ; their objects 

 being, firstly, to check growth, as 

 they believe that disturbing the roots 

 has the effect of hardening the whole 

 plant, and of enabling it better to 

 withstand severe weather ; secondly, 

 to place the plants in such a posi- 

 tion that the sun, during alternate 

 frost and thaw, will not get to the 

 hearts, as these suffer more after 

 being thawed by the sun in the day 

 than when continuously frozen. For 

 this reason the heads are laid so 

 as to face the north or w^est. To 

 accomplish this, if the rows run 

 east and west, they commence on 

 the north side of the first row, and 

 take out a spit of soil just the width 

 of the spade, so as to form a trench 



