The Cauliflower Part 12

-----------------------+--------------+---------+--------+----------- Seeds No. of No. of Fit for VARIETY. from. plants. heads. table use.

-----------------------+--------------+---------+--------+----------- Dreer's E'st Snowstorm Dreer. 11 8 Sept. 24 Earliest Dwarf Erfurt Vaughn. 9 5 " 6 Extra E. Dwarf Erfurt Tillinghast. 9 4 " 29 Gilt-edge s...o...b..ll Thorburn. 12 10 Aug. 25 Henderson's E. s...o...b..l Henderson. 12 8 Sept. 6 Long Island Beauty Tillinghast. 11 8 " 14 Long Island Beauty Bragg. 12 11 Aug. 25 New Early Padilla Tillinghast. 11 8 " 29 -----------------------+--------------+---------+--------+-----------

At the same station, in 1889, the following varieties were tested. The seed was sown in frames April 23, and the plants set out June 22. The Early Erfurt and Early s...o...b..ll were from seed grown by H. A. March, of Fidalgo, Was.h.i.+ngton.

--------------+--------+--------+---------+--------+--------- Number Fit for Number Seed of table of Average VARIETY. from Plants use heads diameter --------------+--------+--------+---------+--------+--------- Inches Early Puritan Ferry. 20 Aug. 21 13 5- Early Erfurt March. 20 " 22 19 8- s...o...b..ll. March. 20 " 24 20 7- Vick's Ideal Vick. 20 " 30 20 7 --------------+--------+--------+---------+--------+---------

The season of 1889 was uncommonly favorable for the cauliflower, and it will be seen from the above table that these varieties headed with greater uniformity and from two to four weeks earlier than the same or similar varieties the preceding year.

COLORADO EXPERIMENT STATION (_Fort Collins_).--The following report, slightly condensed, from the report of the Colorado experiment station for 1888, will be useful for comparison: "Seed of sixteen varieties of cauliflower was sown April 12 in hot-bed and transplanted to the open ground May 7. They were irrigated at planting time, and on May 14 and 28, June 11, July 5 and 20, August 3 and 15 and on September 5. The area in crop was one-third of an acre and the stand nearly perfect. The plants were hoed twice and cultivated six times. The soil, a clay loam, was lacking in fertility for the best culture of the cabbage and the cauliflower. Of the varieties grown, Henderson's s...o...b..ll was the best, with the latter's Erfurt a good second. These two types, when well selected, are the only ones that can be relied upon to give profitable results in Colorado."

It will be noticed in the table that Early Paris and Early London, two varieties which have long been popular at the East, entirely failed to head.

--------------------+----------+---------+--------------------------------- VARIETY. Seed from Mature REMARKS.

--------------------+----------+---------+--------------------------------- Early s...o...b..ll. Henderson. July 20. Heads compact, very white, leaves smaller, very uniform.

Extra E. Erfurt. Henderson. Aug. 6. Heads fairly solid and white, leaves large.

Extra Early Paris. Landreth. Aug. 24. Heads solid and white, leaves very large.

Early Paris. Ferry. No heads formed.

Early s...o...b..ll. Landreth. Aug. 6. Heads compact, very white, plant dwarf, small leaves.

Gerry Island. Gregory. No heads formed.

Select Dwarf Erfurt Landreth. July 24. Heads large and compact, very white and uniform.

Burpee's Earliest. Burpee. July 30. Heads compact and white, leaves large.

Lenormand. Landreth. Sept. 20. Heads solid and white, plant vigorous and dwarf.

Long Isl'd Beauty. Low. Aug. 24. Heads loose, yellowish white, inferior stock.

Algiers. Landreth. Oct. 10. Heads solid and large, plant vigorous, leaves very large.

Walcheren. Landreth. No heads formed.

Large L. Dutch. Landreth. Oct. 10. Heads fairly compact, plant vigorous & large.

Late London. Ferry. No heads formed.

Landreth's First. Landreth. Aug. 24. Heads solid, very white, of superior quality.

Vick's Ideal. Low. Aug. 6. Heads solid, yellowish white, leaves large.

MICHIGAN EXPERIMENT STATION (_Lansing_).--The Michigan experiment station is connected with the Agricultural College, located at Lansing, at the geographical centre of the Lower Peninsula. It is, therefore, remote from any large body of water, and although the soil in that portion of the state is mainly a strong loam suitable for cauliflower, it is only in favorable seasons that good cauliflowers can be obtained.

In the exceptionally favorable season of 1889, some of the sorts then prominently before the public, were grown at the college, all of which gave very good results, with the exception of Autumn Giant, which failed to germinate. The American grown seeds, from H. A. March, of Fidalgo, Was.h.i.+ngton, were large and plump and gave strong vigorous plants, and as good or better results than is usually obtained from imported seed. The following varieties were sown March 13, and set out May 14. It was difficult to detect any difference between Puritan, Gilt Edge, Denmark, Prize Earliest, Best Early, s...o...b..ll, and Erfurt, as they showed less variation than appeared between the same sorts from different seedsmen.

The t.i.tle "edible maturity" in the table refers to the period at which the heads might be cut for one's own use, that is when they had attained the size of one's two fists. "Marketable maturity" is when they had completed their growth and would remain solid no longer.

---------------------+---------+---------------+--------+----------+-------- Appearance of Per cent young plants, Edible Mark't'ble forming Varieties. Source. March 29. Maturity Maturity. heads.

---------------------+---------+---------------+--------+----------+-------- Burpee's Best Early Burpee. Small; even. Aug. 5 Aug. 10 100 Denmark Vaughn. Good; even. July 26 Aug. 10 83 Earliest Dwarf Erfurt Maule. Good; even. Aug. 27 Sept. 14 67 Erfurt Earliest Dwarf March. Small; even. Aug. 10 Aug. 27 92 Early s...o...b..ll Henderson Very weak; Aug. 5 Aug. 10 100 uneven. Early Puritan Ferry. Small; even. Aug. 7 Aug. 13 92 Gilt Edge Thorburn. Weak; uneven. July 26 Aug. 8 93 Maule's Prize Maule. Small; somewhat July 24 Aug. 8 83 Earliest uneven. s...o...b..ll March. Good; even. July 24 Aug. 8 100 ---------------------+---------+---------------+--------+----------+--------

THE BEST VARIETIES.

The points to consider in selecting varieties are first, earliness or time of maturity; second, the certainty of their forming good heads. The importance of having well grown seed has already been mentioned. This being secured, the choice of varieties is largely a matter of circ.u.mstances. A variety which is good for one climate, or for one purpose, may not be good for another. For the early crop, an account of which has already been given, the earliest variety obtainable should be used, as our springs at the North are short enough at best. The Earliest Dwarf Erfurt strains include nearly all the earliest varieties now grown, and, for this country, at least, are the best. The typical variety is usually sold under the name Extra Early Dwarf Erfurt, and if properly selected seed is secured, this is nearly or quite as early as any of the strains which have received special names. Among the best of these latter are Henderson's s...o...b..ll, Thorburn's Gilt Edge, and Vick's Ideal, the latter a little the largest and latest. For growing under gla.s.s the first two of these varieties are as good as any. The earliest varieties are now often grown also for the fall crop, particularly at the North, by being sown late. Their greater certainty to head on time, and the increased number that can be grown on an acre, renders them especially valuable.

A variety which in the past has given the most general satisfaction for the fall crop is Early Paris. Of the later maturing varieties, Veitch's Autumn Giant and Lenormand Short-stem, have been, and are still, popular, especially at the South. At present probably more than three-fourths of the cauliflowers grown in this country are of the new varieties of the Dwarf Erfurt group. For the North, especially, these are now the most reliable and are increasing in popularity.

CHAPTER IX.

BROCCOLI.

The Broccolis are so similar to the cauliflowers that some account of them may be expected in a treatise on the latter vegetable. In fact, no important structural difference between the two vegetables exists, the broccolis being merely a more robust and hardy group of varieties, requiring a longer period for development, and adapted, in mild climates, to cultivation during the winter. They are, in fact, often called "winter cauliflowers." They receive but little attention in the United States, where the winters, at least at the north, in the vicinity of the leading markets, are too severe for the out-door growth of vegetables of any kind. For this reason cauliflowers, which come to maturity in a single season, are grown instead. The supply of these two vegetables, therefore, which in western Europe, by means of successive sowings of varieties of both cauliflowers and broccolis, may be maintained the year round, is here, owing to the conditions of our climate, confined chiefly to the seasons of the year in which cauliflower can be obtained.

Although no sharp distinctions can be drawn between broccolis and cauliflowers, there are certain general differences which separate them. As has been said, the broccolis are all of them hardier than the cauliflowers, and require a longer time in which to develop, so that in climates having mild winters they are usually treated as biennials. In France, the seed which is sown about the first of May gives plants which head the following spring before the early cauliflowers come in. The plants are sometimes enabled to pa.s.s the winter more safely by being taken up and planted again in a slanting position.

In the appearance of the heads no difference exists between cauliflowers and broccolis, except that the latter are usually smaller, less compact, and sometimes purple or sulphur colored. All cauliflowers (with one or two exceptions), have white compact heads. The stems of the broccolis are usually taller than those of cauliflowers, the leaves more numerous, larger, stiffer, but more undulated, more rounded at the apex, and more frequently having a distinct stem or petiole. The mid-ribs and princ.i.p.al veins are large and white, except in varieties having colored heads, when they have the same color as the head. The color of the leaves is always more glaucous, that is, of a darker and more bluish green, than is usual in the cauliflowers.

Broccolis, especially the colored varieties, are sometimes said to be more tender in texture and finer in flavor than the cauliflowers. This, however, is due only to the fact that they usually head in cool weather.

When grown under the same conditions the cauliflowers are milder than the broccolis, and although to some tastes the more p.r.o.nounced flavor of the latter may be preferred, most persons use broccoli only because in the winter season fresh cauliflowers cannot be obtained.

Nearly every one prefers cauliflower to broccoli, and the mild white varieties to the colored varieties of the latter vegetable. Broccolis sometimes acquire a bitter taste, the cause of which is not known. The methods of using the two vegetables are the same, except that the branching or sprouting broccolis are also cooked like asparagus.

The early history of the broccoli has already been treated in connection with that of the cauliflower.

The number of varieties of broccoli in cultivation is probably somewhat less than those of the cauliflower, but the differences between the varieties themselves are greater. Messrs. Sutton & Sons, of Reading, England, catalogue thirty-six varieties of broccoli and only eleven of cauliflower. Most of these varieties originated in England, where broccoli is more largely grown than anywhere else. Two groups of broccolis may be recognized, the "sprouting broccolis," which do not form compact heads, and the improved varieties with well formed heads, known as "cauliflower broccolis." The latter differ but little in any way from true cauliflowers.

The requirements of cultivation for the broccolis are practically the same as those for cauliflowers. Their value depends mainly on their greater hardiness, and on this account they are likely, at the South where the winters are mild enough, to become more extensively cultivated. They do not, however, endure hot weather as well as cauliflowers, and on this account it is doubtful if they ever become as largely grown anywhere in this country as they are in England.

The question of protecting them in winter, and the amount and kind of protection needed, depend of course on the severity of the winters. In Northern Florida, where cauliflowers are liable to be killed during winter, broccolis will stand out without any protection. In localities where but little protection is required, it may be afforded by loosening the roots and turning the plants down upon their sides. If more protection is needed they may be taken up and set in trenches and partly covered with straw and boards. Broccolis stand s.h.i.+pment better than cauliflowers. This is not only because they are generally handled in colder weather, but because they are somewhat coa.r.s.er and firmer in texture. They do not sell for quite so good a price as cauliflowers.

There are seven varieties catalogued by American seedsmen, of which the Early Purple Cape is the best adapted to our climate.

CHAPTER X.

COOKING CAULIFLOWER.

"Of all the flowers in the garden, I like the Cauliflower best." DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON.

Dr. Johnson appreciated good living, and therefore it is not surprising that he should have left on record this tribute to the most delicate and finely flavored of all the cabbage family.

Cauliflower is so rarely seen in market in the United States, except in large cities, that comparatively few of our people are accustomed to using it. On this account a variety of receipts for cooking cauliflower are here given, in order to make the methods of using this excellent vegetable more widely known. Americans, especially, need to become familiar with its use; for to the English, French, and Germans, who have known it in the Old World, it needs no introduction.

Cauliflower lends itself readily to both plain and fancy methods of cooking. It is easy of digestion, and is an especial favorite with those who, from any reason, are unable to readily digest cabbage. Besides, it is more nutritious than the cabbage, and it is not exceeded in this particular by any other garden vegetable.

The following tables show the comparative composition of fresh cabbage and cauliflower, and the composition of the ash of the latter. It will be noticed that the percentage of ash and indigestible fibre is low in the cauliflower, and the amount of nitrogenous and starchy matter high.

a.n.a.lYSIS OF CABBAGE AND CAULIFLOWER. (Konig's Nohrungsmittel, pp. 715, 717).

--------------------------+----------+------------- Cabbage. Cauliflower.