58 
Cauliflower—Carrot-Celery. 
Cauliflower. This requires the best of 
rich, light soil. The early kind is most suita¬ 
ble for this climate. It should be sown about 
the 20th of September, for spring use; and it 
requires much care to keep them during the 
winter. For fall use, they may be sown in a 
hot bed in March, or in the open ground about 
the 20th of May. They should be protected 
from the northwest winds by walls or hedges, 
and great pains must be taken in every stage of 
their growth, as the extremes of heat and cold 
operate very unfavorably upon them. 
To cook Cauliflower. Cut it when close 
and white, and of a middling size; cut the stem 
so as to separate the flower from the leaves be¬ 
low it. Let it lie in salt and water awhile; then 
put it into boiling water, with a handful of salt. 
Keep the boiler uncovered, and skim the water 
well. A small flower will require about fif¬ 
teen minutes boiling—a large one about twenty. 
Take it up as soon as a fork will easily enter 
the stem: a little longer boiling will spoil it. 
Serve it up with gravy or melted butter. 
Carrot. —The long orange or red is gene¬ 
rally preferred, both for garden and field cul¬ 
ture : the short orange is the earliest and deep¬ 
est color. 
Soil. Carrots require a light, mellow soil, 
with a mixture of sand. The ground should 
be dug* or trenched deep, and well broken up, 
in order to give plenty of room for the roots to 
penetrate into the soii; it should also be made 
fine, smooth and level. 
Sowing. As the seeds have a fine, hairy 
furze on the borders or edges, by which they 
are apt to cling together, they should be well 
rubbed between the hands in order to separate 
them. To forward vegetation, they should be 
soaked in warm water about twenty-four hours, 
and then mixed with dry sand, so as to separate 
them as much as possible in sowing. They 
should be sowed in a calm time, and scattered 
as equally as possible. 
The seed should be sown in drills about an 
inch in depth : the rows from eighteen to twen- j 
ty inches apart, so as to give plenty of room to 
hoe between them. Some recommend from 
nine to twelve inches, and others from eight to 
ten : this may answer in small family gardens, 
where the land is scarce: but where there is a 
sufficiency of ground, the carrots are more easi¬ 
ly cultivated, and will thrive better and grow 
larger at a greater distance. 
Field culture. The best soil for field carrots 
is a deep, rich, sandy loam. To obtain a good 
crop, the soil should be a foot deep at least/and 
well prepared by very deep plowing and thor¬ 
ough harrowing, so as to make the ground per¬ 
fectly mellow, smooth and level. It" is a matter 
of importance to wet the seed and cause it to 
swell, so as to hasten vegetation; because the 
weeds are apt to start very quick after sow¬ 
ing, and if the Seed is not quickened, the 
weeds will get up and overpower the carrots, 
before they get large enough to hoe. The seed 
may be sown in drills, as directed for garden 
culture or on moderate ridges, from two to three 
feet apart, and cultivated between the rows with 
a horse plow. In hoeing, they should be thin¬ 
ned to three or four inches apart in the rows. 
Two pounds of seed is considered sufficient to 
sow an acre of ground in drills two feet apart. 
Carrots are excellent for fattening beef, and 
for milch cows. Horses are remarkably fond 
of them. When cut up small, and mixed with 
cut straw and given them, with a little hay, it is 
said they may be kept in excellent condition for 
any kind of ordinary labor, without any grain. 
Celery. —The White Solid is considered 
the best kind of celery. We have had the best 
crops by solving the seed in the latter part of 
March, in a hot bed. After the plants have at¬ 
tained the height of about six inches, they may 
be transplanted into trenches. Select, for this 
purpose, a piece of rich ground, in an open ex¬ 
posure ; lay out your trenches about eighteen 
inches wide, allowing six feet space between 
each trench ; plow or spade out the earth from 
the trenches to the depth of sixteen or eighteen 
inches, if the depth of soil will admit; put about 
three inches of very rotten manure into the 
trench; then throw in upon this manure about 
five inches of the best soil; mix and stir the 
manure and soil well together; then set your 
plants by a line in the centre of the trench, 
leaving a space of four inches between each 
plant. If the weather be dry, water the plants 
freely. They should be shaded till the roots 
strike and the plants begin to grow; the cover¬ 
ing should be taken off at night. 
When they have attained the height of ten 
inches, you may commence earthing them up; 
but never do it while the plants are wet. In 
[performing this, care should be taken to gather 
all the leaves up with the hand while drawing 
the earth up equally on each side of the row, 
being-careful to leave the hearts of the plants 
open. Repeat the earthing once a week or of- 
tener, till about the last week in October; then 
bury the whole with dirt, to remain till time 
for digging. 
Celery may also be raised by sowing the 
seed in a rich, moist soil, and removing it into 
trenches as before directed; or by sowing it 
in the trenches where it is to grow. As the 
seed vegetates very slowly, it should be soaked 
in warm water for twenty-four hours before 
sowing. To preserve it through the winter, 
