[This disease is also mentioned by Victor Paquet, in his "Plantes
Potagers" (London, 1846, p. 243), where it is attributed to stagnant
moisture].

[C] _Country Gentleman_, 1889, p. 769, (from the _Port Jefferson Times_,
Sept. 27):

"Close upon the heels of a partial failure of the potato crop through
rotting comes the news from various points on Eastern Long Island that
the cauliflower crop has almost totally failed through the same cause.
In Manorville the crop has not sufficiently developed in some of the
fields to warrant picking, and in Mattituck and east of that place the
rotting will result in an almost total loss. In a few cases there is not
yet any indication of rot, but the farmers are afraid to tie the plants
up lest rotting ensue.

"In East Moriches, Orient, and the near vicinity, the yield will not be
of sufficient value to pay for plowing the ground, not to speak of the
other expenses which have been entailed. Through the Hamptons careful
observations failed to reveal scarcely a single successful crop.

"Last Saturday Henry T. Osborn, of East Moriches, tied up 2,000 heads
and on Monday he cut enough to fill 30 barrels. He let them lie in his
barn over night, and the next day not a barrel of them was fit for
shipment to market.

"George Cooper, of Mattituck, planted seven acres of cauliflower which
he thinks will prove a total loss. And so on the reports come from many
East End farmers. The recent heavy rains are generally assigned as the
cause of the failure."

[D] A series of articles upon "damping off" may be found in the
_American Garden_ for 1889, pp. 347-9.

CHAPTER VII.

CAULIFLOWER SEED.

With no vegetable is it more important to have good seed than with the
cauliflower, and in none is there a greater tendency to deteriorate. On
this account less dependence is to be placed upon named varieties than
in some other cultivated plants, and greater need is required to secure
carefully selected strains. Owing to peculiarities of soil, climate and
season, and the different degrees of care given by the different
growers, seeds of the same variety may be better from one source than
from another. On this account, when a variety is found adapted to one's
needs it is well to use the same variety, and obtain it from the same
source year after year.

Cauliflower seed is mostly grown in Europe, chiefly in Holland and
Germany, to some extent in Italy and France, and less in England. One
variety