626 BRASSICACEOUS ESCULENTS, OR THE CABBAGE TRIBE. 



A vnnter crop may be obtained by sowing in the middle of July, in a 

 warm border, or on the south side of an east and west ridge, and allowing 

 the plants to come to heads without transplanting, but taking care to thin 

 them to twelve inches or fourteen inches apart every way. In the course 

 of November, heads will be formed from three inches to nine inches or ten 

 inches across, and the plants may then be removed with balls, and planted 

 in a bed of soil, to be covered by a frame and sashes ; or in a bed under 

 an open shed, and farther protected by mats and dry hay. By this latter 

 mode, which may be adopted where a frame cannot be had, Mr. Cockburn, 

 in Sussex, has been able to send three dishes of cauliflower to table every 

 week during the autumn and winter till February (^Hort. Trans, vol. v., 

 p. 28J ). Cauliflowers may also be preserved by burying them entirely in 

 dry soil, and thatching the ridge to keep out rain and frost, or by burying 

 in dry bog earth ; in either case wrapping up the heads with the surround- 

 ing leaves to keep them clean. In gathering, cut off the head with some 

 inches of the stalk and a circle of surrounding leaves ; after which pull 

 up the plant, as the stems do not produce sprouts, like almost all the other 

 varieties of the cabbage tribe. 



1380. Broccoli^ B. oleracea Botrytis cymosa Dec. (Broccoli, i^r.), differs 

 from the cauliflower in being so much hardier as to produce a supply of 

 heads during the winter. There are a number of excellent varieties, which 

 may be arranged as : — 



1. Purple or green-headed., of which the best variety is the early purple 

 Cape, a dwarf sort, which should be sown the first and third week of May, 

 and second week in J une. The late dwarf purple., which should be sown the 

 second or third week in May for a crop to stand the winter. 



2. Sulphur-headed., of which the best variety is the Portsmouth, which, if 

 sown about the second or third week in May, and transplanted in June, will 

 produce a crop to come into use during March, April, and May following. 

 The late sulphur, sown at the same time, will come into use during April and 

 May. 



3. White- headed, of which the best are Grange's early cauliflower broccoli, 

 which, sown about the first and third weeks of May, will come into use 

 when cauliflower begins to get scarce, from the end of September till Christ- 

 mas; the early white, with smaller heads than the preceding, which, sown 

 at the same time as Grange's early, will come into use from November till 

 February, and is the kind generally grown for the London market ; 

 Knight's protecting, which is the hardiest of this class, and when sown 

 about the third week in May, comes into use at the end of March fol- 

 lowing and lasts till May, when the cauliflower grown under hand-glasses is 

 ready ; and the spring white, syn. late dwarf Tartarian, which approaches 

 nearer to the cauliflower than any other variety. The heads are quite 

 delicate, and very white • and the plants seldom grow higher than a foot, and 

 are very hardy. The seed should be sown between the 1st and 10th of 

 April, and the heads will be in perfection in the May of the next year. 

 ChappeWs new cream-coloured brocoli, is a large and excellent variety ; for 

 use from autumn till spring. Sow in April for the autumnal supply, and in 

 May for the spring crop. 



General culture.^Most of the sorts may be planted in rows 2|- feet by 

 2 feet ; but for the dwarf varieties, such as the late dwarf purple, and the 

 spring white, 1 8 inches every way will be sufficient. The routine culture 



