lants, we sow the seeds about September 1, in rather poor
soil, giving them plenty of room; the rows being a foot apart and the
seeds sown thinly in the rows. This gives us stocky and hardy plants,
which, we think, are less liable to damp off when transplanted. About
November 1 we transplant the plants into cold frames, six inches apart
each way, as we wish to keep them growing a little all winter. The
glasses are kept on at night and through heavy rains. In case of a cold
snap, we cover the glasses with mats; but that is not often necessary,
for we seldom have a temperature colder than 16 deg. above zero. Everything
depends on good plants and an early start in the spring, for we raise
two crops the same season, and an early frost on our unripe seed is sure
to ruin the crop. Now, to set the plants out and make them grow from the
start, a line is stretched along one of these flat ridges, a boy goes
along, and with a three-foot marker marks the spots for the plants; a
man follows with a hoe and makes a hole, about the size of a quart dish,
to receive each plant. During the winter we have gathered up 200 or 300
tomato and oyster cans, melted off the tops and bottoms, leaving tubes
about five inches long by three or four across. Now, armed with a light
wheelbarrow with a wooden tray, containing from 50 to 75 of these cans,
we go to the cold-frame (having well soaked it with water the night
before); take a can, set it right down over the plant; press the can
into the soil about two inches, and, with a light shove to one side,
lift the plant without disturbing the roots; fill our tray and start for
the field; run the barrow between two rows and set a can and plant in
each of the holes just made. A boy follows with a watering pot
containing _warm_ water, and pours a gill into each tube, which softens
the soil so that the tubes can be lifted right out, leaving the plant
standing in the hole. We brush a little dirt around the plant, and firm
it with the blade of the hoe.
"Now we have our plants set, and not one ever wilts in the hottest
spring day. In two or three days the cultivator is started and kept a
going once a week until the heads begin to form. We hand-hoe three or
four times, besides fighting insects. The cabbage maggot is our worst
enemy.
"When the flowers commence to bloom out or form heads, is the most
particular time. A man who thoroughly understands what a perfect
cauliflower is, must now go through the field e
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