Page:The family kitchen gardener - containing plain and accurate descriptions of all the different species and varieties of culinary vegetables (IA familykitchengar56buis).pdf/48

 no more water will be required till the Spring. Between each of these, plant a Lettuce of the early Butter or Royal Cabbage sorts, that will head in February and March, and be used before the Cauliflower makes much leaf to cover the ground. It will be necessary to surround the frame with dry litter to keep out the frost, and to cover the glass or shutters with dry straw or mats in time of severe weather, observing to give plenty of air, in clear, mild days, to prevent the plants from drawing or damping off at the neck. With such treatment we have seen Cauliflowers eighteen inches in diameter, and nearly as white as snow. When they are in a growing state, they should never suffer with drought. Allow a copious supply of water—if enriched, so much the better. Soap-suds is an excellent nutritive for the growth of vegetables. In the Southern States very little protection is required. Surround the roots with dry litter, and cover the plants in severe nights with mats or branches of evergreens. Be careful to supply moisture whenever the plants demand it, which is readily observed by the drooping, of the leaves.

As many of my readers may not have seen a Cauliflower, nor know from the above what it looks like, to such we say, it is a kind of Cabbage that produces within its long, pale-green leaves, a white head, very similar to a basin rounded full of the curd which is commonly called Cottage Cheese. This is about as plain a description of the appearance of this vegetable as we can give. In cutting Cauliflowers, the head should be cut off with some inches of the stalk, together with most of the surrounding leaves, which should be trimmed down nearly to the circumference of the head, when for present use; but the leaves of those required to be kept a few days, or intended for market, should be retained in their full length. If the flowers are opening more rapidly than demand requires, they can be, retarded a few days, by folding the leaves over the heads. By this process, the flower is kept of a purer white, being defended from the sun.