THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



warm weather about the last of February; and 

 the prevalence of cool weather since will make 

 the plants on resowed beds late. But the man- 

 agement of plant beds has improved so much 

 of late, especially in the use of guano, that 

 there will probably be a better supply than is 

 usual after such an untoward season. Still it 

 must be short. 



Emigration from Virginia to the West. 



We have lately seen lugubrious accounts of 

 the depopulation of large sections of Western 

 Virginia by emigration to the West. However 

 much it may be regretted, this emigration is 

 not peculiar to Virginia. Ohio, Pennsylvania, 

 and some other free States are suffering much 

 more from the same cause than we are, and 

 making much louder complaints about it than 

 we do. 



Richmond Cattle Market. 



April 16, 1857. 



Reported by Messrs. Qrockett & Shook. 

 Beef cattle are bringing by scale weight from 

 $4 50 to $6 50 ; and they will probably remain 

 at these figures for the next six weeks. Hogs 

 are worth $9 ; not much in demand. Sheep 

 are in demand at 6c gross, with the fleece on, 

 4 to 5 with the fleece off. 



Book Notices omitted for want of room. 



lorfirultotal Jepatfmrat. 



E. G. EGGEMNG, Contributor. 



Cauliflowers. 



This vegetable, which is very highly prized 

 in England, France, Germany, and in some of 

 the Northern States of this country, is very 

 little known in Virginia. Many persons who 

 have seen it growing in our garden have mis- 

 taken it for cabbage, to which it bears a stri- 

 king resemblance, except that its leaves are 

 long like tobacco, and it grows to an enormous 

 size, spreading out like the branches of a tree. 

 These outer leaves however are not the parts 

 of the plant which are eaten. The only portion 

 which is brought to the table, is what we shall 

 call the flower which grows out from the top of 

 the stalk from the very midst of the leaves. 

 Properly cooked and served up, it is a great 

 delicacy, and as such deserves perhaps more 

 attention than it has generally received here- 

 abouts. '' 



315 



The seed may be sown at two periods, either 

 in the month of September or in May. If 

 sown in the fall, the plants are to be taken up 

 before the cold weather of winter sets in, and 

 planted in a cold frame, there to remain until 

 the following spring, when they are to be re- 

 moved to the open ground, and placed about 

 three feet apart. This mode of raising them 

 does not suit this latitude well, as the hot 

 weather is likely to come on before the flower 

 forms, when the plant runs up and fails to 

 produce the flower, or if they are produced, 

 seed are formed immediately, which equally 

 unfits them for the table. 



The proper season to sow the seed in this 

 climate is about the first of May. They are to 

 be sown in beds, just as cabbage seed are sown, 

 and by the first of July ordinarily, the plants 

 will be large enough to bea^transplantation. 

 They are then to be removed to the open ground 

 and planted in rows three feet apart, and the 

 plants to stand the same distance apart in the 

 row. 



To raise Cauliflowers requires that the lands 

 be worked very deep, the clods well broken, 

 and the soil rendered as light and pliable as 

 possible, and most important of all, the land 

 must be made as rich as it can be made with 

 the application of good manure. This is so in- 

 dispensable, that we advise no man to attempt 

 to cultivate this vegetable at all, unless he will 

 give earnest heed to this direction. It is idle 

 to attempt to raise it on poor land, or even 

 moderately rich land, for it requires an exceed- 

 ingly rich soil, and will not flourish well in any 

 other. The land should be broken with* the 

 spade, as the plough does not go deep enough, 

 unless the land is ploughed time and again, 

 and this is scarcely less troublesome than if 

 the spade had been used originally. 



When planted on land thus prepared, the 

 chief cultivation required, is an occasional 

 hoeing to keep them clear of weeds. 



As the flower previously described, is the 

 only part of the plant that is eaten, it is the 

 great object of solicitude and care with the cul- 

 tivator. It usually makes its appearance in 

 the latter part of September, or the first of Oc- 

 tober, and when first developed is very small, 

 and has somewhat the look of the head of 

 asparagus when it first appears above ground. 

 At this time it is entirely covered by the 

 leaves of the plant, and would not be seen 



