232 
ON THE CULTIVATION OF EARLY CAULIFLOWERS. 
handglasses in the spring : whilst on the other hand, should the winter prove to be a 
very severe one, they not unfrequently derive an unlooked-for check in their luxuriant 
condition ; and thus, on the return of a genial season, are the more liable to terminate 
their career by that very disappointing result, the premature development of inferior, if 
not almost worthless heads, better known to gardeners as the “ buttoning ” process. 
In the cultivation of the Cauliflower, therefore, (like the Pine-apple after the formation 
of its fruit), there should be no check experienced, but rather a rapidly uniform pro- 
gressive growth ; inasmuch, as any sudden, undue cessation of the active principle, by 
whatever means occasioned, is certain to result in a greater or less degree injuriously. 
It may at first sight seem somewhat paradoxical to assert that the earliest 
Cauliflowers are obtainable by sowing later than is usually done ; notwithstanding, the 
best as well as the earliest I ever saw, were the produce of a sowing made the first week 
in October, which is at least a month or six weeks later than the autumnal sowing for 
main superior crops of this vegetable is generally made : but I must observe that the 
lateness of the semination was fully compensated for, by sowing on heat under the 
protection of glass, and by the after-treatment of the seedlings. 
From observations then made, the following is the rationale of management, from the 
time of sowing to the crop being available for use. 
In the last week of September, or in the middle of that month, if the season is not 
propitious, prepare an exhausted cucumber or melon bed under the protection of a two or 
three-light frame, by elevating the back of the frame to an acute angle, that when filled up 
with soil, the declining influence of the sun may be concentrated as much as possible on 
the bed. The surface of the hotbed, inside the frame, must be forked up rather deeply to 
arouse the latent caloric of the fermenting materials, which, if too cold, a quantum of well- 
prepared leaves and stable-manure must be added to restore the warmth of the old bed. 
Any coarse soil from the surface of worn-out cucumber or melon beds, provided it be 
tolerably dry, will do for the purpose of filling up the frame within three or four inches of 
the glass, and this should be surfaced with healthy loam passed through a coarse sieve, 
and commingled with particles of charcoal, wood-ashes, &c., to induce a healthy and rapid 
germination. 
The frame must be quite filled up that the glass may all but rest upon the surface, 
which, for sowing in, should be neither wet nor dry, in the usual acceptation of the 
terms, but in a nice medium condition ; as if too moist, the seedlings may perish at this 
dull season as soon as they germinate : or, if too dry, they will not grow so soon as 
desirable. A tolerably thick sowing must be made ; the seeds barely covered with soil 
and wood-ashes, and the lights kept quite close, until germination is apparent ; but should 
the seedlings be tardy in making their appearance, the lights must be drawn off on a fine 
day and the surface of the seed-bed moistened with warm water given from a finely 
perforated rose-watering pot. 
The moment the young plants are apparent, the frame-lights must be elevated back 
and front, just half-an-inch or so at first, gradually increasing the elevation to the 
thickness of a brick on edge, both back and front, that a free circulation of the atmosphere 
may prevent “ damping off,” etiolation, and a tender debilitated growth ; but despite 
these precautions, the young seedlings will sometimes “ damp off” just on emerging from 
the soil ; the atmosphere at this period, when the “ light of the sun is hid for many days,” 
being often charged with so large a proportion of water, that, to obviate its effects, the 
lights of the frame must be altogether drawn off on all favourable opportunities, the surface 
of the soil frequently stirred and loosened amongst the young plants carefully with a sharp 
pointed stick, and effectually dredged over now and then with dry wood-ashes and fine 
charcoal dust, to imbibe the surface-moisture, and ward off the ravages that slugs, &c., 
are prone to commit. 
If the plants have gone on well, as they must have done, with the kindly attention 
and care bestowed upon them, they will soon become stocky, with short, blue-looking, 
sturdy stems and robust foliage ; they must not now be allowed to suffer for the want of 
water, which should always at this time of the year be given to them in the morning 
