748 
branches, whereas the cauliflower sends out 
many flower-stems from the part eaten; which 
is only a compact collection of the heads of these 
stalks, which afterwards divides into so many 
stems, which also branch out into many spread- 
ing shoots, these forming a large spreading head 
when in flower, but never rising pyramidically 
like the cabbage.” The large, close, firm head 
or cluster of white flower-buds, and not the 
leaves, is the part of the cauliflower eaten; it 
constitutes a delicate esculent which almost every 
palate relishes; and it 1s well known to have 
|| been jocosely pronounced by the great English 
| lexicographer “the finest flower of the English 
garden.” 
Only two varieties of cauliflower are in culti- 
vation,—the early, for the first crops of the year, 
and the late, for the general or main crops. 
Heads are obtained for use from May till De- 
cember, but are in the finest condition in June 
and July. Both varieties are raised from seeds, 
and have a half-tender habit, and require to be 
transplanted. Two, three, or four sowings may 
be made from early spring till the end of sum- 
mer; and a sowing, to stand over winter, must 
be made in August. The soil, preparation, and 
general culture—excepting in so far as the 
last requires to be modified by the greater ten- 
derness of the plant—are the same as for broc- 
coli. See the article Broccont. 
The first sowing of the year may be made, on 
a warm border, or on a slight hotbed, at the end 
of January or early in February; the seed-bed 
of this sowing must constantly enjoy the protec- 
tion of a frame; the seedlings may, in March, 
be pricked out into a similar situation to the 
seed-bed; and the young plants may, in April 
and the early part of May, be transplanted to 
the open ground, some to be gently forced under 
hand-glasses to succeed the winter-standing crop, 
and others to advance naturally to maturity in 
order to succeed those under the hand-glasses. 
Another sowing may be made, on a warm border, 
late in March or early in April; the seed-bed, if 
the weather be severe, must enjoy some protec- 
tion; the seedlings may, in May, be pricked out 
into the thoroughly-open ground ; and the young 
plants may, in June, be finally transplanted to 
succeed the latest of the May transplantation. 
A third sowing may be made at the end of May, 
for pricking out in the end of June, and trans- 
planting in the end of July. These sowings may 
be so regulated, in the pricking out, transplant- 
ing, and culture, as to afford a constant succes- 
sion for use, from the consumption of the winter- 
standing crop till the beginning of November, or 
in mild, open seasons, till the approach of Jan- 
uary ; or a greater number of sowings may be 
made, at any desired intervals from the end of 
January till the last week of May. 
The seed of all these sowings ought to be dis- 
persed broadcast, and covered to the depth of 
half an inch with fine mould. Both after sowing 
| about the middle of August. 
CAULIFLOWER. 
and after pricking out, if the weather be dry, 
water must be given. The seedlings are fit to be 
pricked out when each obtains four or five leaves 
about an inch broad; and they ought to be planted 
at distances from one another of three or four 
inches. The young plants, when finally trans- 
planted, should be placed at distances from one 
another of thirty inches, in ground finely pulver- 
ized, rich in manurial intermixture, and perfectly 
open from the shade of trees or fences; and in 
their after-culture, the soil around them should 
be frequently stirred with the hoe, and a portion 
of it drawn up about their stems; and if the 
weather be droughty, a circular hollow should 
be scooped out around each, and filled with 
water twice a-week till they begin to flower, and 
every alternate day during the progress of their 
inflorescence. The heads of flower-buds, when 
fully or nearly formed, may be kept of a pure 
white colour, and repressed in their tendency to 
run to seed, by shading them from the sun with 
overfoldings of the leaves of their own plants. 
Various methods have, with more or less suc- 
cess, been tried for preserving matured heads of 
the last open-ground sowing, through some part 
of winter, and even till so advanced a period as 
the latter part of April, so as to continue the 
supply of cauliflowers for the table to within two 
or three weeks of the complete circle of the year. 
A writer in the Gardener’s Magazine, who seems 
to have been very successful, says, “ Towards 
the end of autumn, I make a bed or beds, accord- 
ing to circumstances, of moist sand, in any cool 
house that will exclude the frost. The beds 
should be four inches deep. Having previously | 
planted a greater number of cauliflower plants 
than would be required at the time they are to 
come into use, I take the surplus, when in a good 
condition, and cut off their roots, leaving a stalk 
about three or four inches long; I then cut off 
all the leaves, except the innermost row, and, 
after shortening these, I insert the stalk into the 
sandbed, and cover the cauliflower with a flower- 
pot. In this manner, a large quantity may be 
contained in a small space; for example, a bed 
twelve feet square will hold 288 heads. Again, 
by taking those plants that are not in flower 
when the frost sets in, and preserving them, in 
a growing state, in any house or shed where light 
is admitted, and which will preserve them from 
a severe frost, these will come into use about the 
month of January; and, by cutting them, and 
putting them in the sandbed, they will continue 
fit for use till the spring. In this way, I have 
kept cauliflowers to the end of April. It will be 
necessary, from time to time, to examine and cut 
off any decayed part that may appear.” 
The crop of cauliflowers to stand over win- 
ter, and come into use in May, must be sown 
The seed-bed may 
be an old cucumber bed, or any other old hot- 
bed, or a six-inch stratum of light rich mould, 
upon a six-inch, firmly-trodden stratum of thor- 
