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 Snowball 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.
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, Washington, 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, Snowball, and Erfurt, as they showed less variation than appeared between the same sorts from different seedsmen.
The title "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.
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 circumstances. 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 Snowball, Thorburn's Gilt Edge, and Vick's Ideal, the latter a little the largest and latest. For growing under glass 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.