The cardoon is a thistle-like plant, very similar in appearance to the Globe artichoke, but is grown as an annual. The seeds are sown in early spring in a hotbed or cold frame and the plants transplanted later to the open ground. The cardoon should be planted in rows 3 feet apart and 18 inches apart in the row on rich soil, where it can secure plenty of moisture and make rapid growth. Toward autumn the leaves are drawn together and the center blanched in the same manner as endive. If intended for winter use, the leaves are not blanched in the garden, but the plants are lifted with considerable earth adhering to the roots and stored closely in a dark pit or cellar to blanch. The blanched leaf stems are used for making salads, soups, and stews.—(F. B. 255.)
CARROT.
The culture of the carrot is practically the same as the parsnip, except that carrots are not thinned so much and are allowed to grow almost as thickly as planted. Carrots should be dug in the autumn and stored the same as parsnips or turnips. Any surplus can be fed sparingly to horses, mules or cattle. The roots of the carrot are used at all times of the year, mostly in soups, but they may be boiled and served with butter or creamed. Carrots are planted in rows 16 inches apart and the plants thinned out to 4 inches in the row. Chantenay is an excellent table carrot of medium size and dark orange color, slightly tapering and abruptly terminating with a short, fine taproot. The flesh is orange colored, brittle, juicy and mild flavored. What it lacks in size it makes up in quality and good shape. Scarlet Intermediate, somewhat larger than Chantenay, is of good size for table use. In shape more tapering and with a longer taproot. It is dark orange colored; flavor and quality good. Flesh is quite brittle and orange colored with a white center. To these two are added two varieties principally grown for stock feed, similar varieties being grown for table use in many parts of Europe, and more especially those of the White Belgian variety. Both varieties are of slender shape, 1½ to 2 inches in diameter, holding their size well, although averaging 12 inches in length, 3 to 4 inches of which grows above ground and which as a consequence is colored light green on the outside. White Belgian is the sweeter of the two, and while the flesh is somewhat coarse, the flavor of it, when well stewed and mashed, is sweeter and not unlike that of the parsnip. Victoria, the other variety, is of the same texture, fairly sweet and with a more pronounced carrot flavor, the flesh instead of white, being light orange colored. This vegetable can be grown to perfection in Porto Rico almost any time of the year. It prefers a rich loam and grows very well on a heavy clay which is not too wet, but a light sandy soil is not well adapted to it. For fertilizer, stable manure will do when nothing else is available, but a commercial fertilizer, rich in potash and phosphoric acid, is much to be preferred for this crop.—F. B. 255, 295; Mich. E. S. 20; N. C. E. S. 132; U. Idaho E. S. 10; P. R. A. E. S. 7.
CAULIFLOWER.
This plant requires a very rich, moist soil. Land that will produce only a fair crop of cabbage is unfit for cauliflower. If the land is very rich and well fertilized it may be reasonably expected that the returns from the crop of cauliflower will more than repay the cost of putting the land in good condition.
Seed.—No more important element enters into the success of the cauliflower crop than the quality of the seed and to the seed alone is often due the difference between success and failure, profit and loss. The best seed that can be secured is the cheapest at any reasonable price, and it should always be obtained from a well-known, reputable seedsman.
Seed-bed.—This should be carefully prepared. The soil should be enriched with a liberal application of commercial fertilizer, or thoroughly decomposed stable manure. After the fertilizer is applied it should be thoroughly worked in to a depth of three or four inches. From a few days to two weeks should elapse before the seed is sown for there is great danger in planting seed too soon after applying commercial fertilizer as the seed is likely to be destroyed by the action of the mineral substance unless it has been dissolved and thoroughly incorporated with the soil. The time between the application of the fertilizer and the sowing of the seed will depend upon the amount of rainfall and it is often better to wet down the seed-bed each day for four or five days before planting and not to depend upon the uncertain rainfall. The rows should be about three inches apart. In six or seven days the young plants should begin to appear and the ground between the drills should be cultivated. Do not allow the soil to dry out as the cauliflower plant from seed to head should never be checked. Neither should the bed be kept too wet, else there is danger of "damping off." The bed should be carefully watched and if the disease does break out it may be checked by removing the diseased plants, working the soil, scattering dry sand and sulphur along the rows and withholding water until the surface soil becomes dry. It might be pointed out here that about six months must be allowed from the sowing of the seed until the crop matures.
Transplanting.—The plants should not be allowed to remain long in the seed rows. If left too long they will soon crowd and become weak and spindling. When they have reached the height of one inch, they should be pricked off and set in another portion of the bed. They may be set in rows four inches apart with the plants one and a half to two inches apart in the rows. Here they should remain until ready for the field. If care has been exercised all the way through, the plants will be short, stocky and vigorous. By the time they are four or five inches high or when the leaves have lapped they are ready for the field. It is not best to let them get too large, because there is often a delay of a few days in order to obtain good climatic conditions for setting out. If left too long in the seed bed, greater care must be exercised in transplanting, else the plants may suffer a severe check and will button or break irregularly instead of forming smooth well shaped heads.
Soils and Preparation.—Work should be started on the ground at least a month before the plants are set out. The cauliflower is a deep rooted plant, consequently the soil should be prepared deeply. It is not advisable to turn under the good surface soil and to obviate this ground may be plowed shallow and then stirred and opened with a bull-tongue to a depth of seven or eight inches. After this the surface should be cultivated to a depth of two or three inches. Give thorough preparation by frequent cultivation before the fertilizer is applied, preparatory to setting out the plants.