If in setting out plants of winter cabbage it is found that there are more plants than are needed, they may be allowed to remain where they are and given a little protection, such as boards, cornstalks or evergreens, and can be used for setting out the following spring.
CAULIFLOWER
Require the same general treatment as cabbage. They are set somewhat closer in the rows and cultivated the same as cabbage; however, for the best results it is desirable to transplant the cauliflower from the hotbed into cold frames as soon as they have their second pair of leaves, setting three inches apart each way and as soon as they resume growth giving a light application of nitrate of soda, then transplant when the weather is favorable. Cauliflower are quite hardy and not injured by early fall frosts, making steady growth until severe cold weather and many heads that have failed to fill during the fall will fill out finely in November.
As soon as the curd, or head, forms and has made a little size the leaves must be drawn over it and tied to exclude rain and light; this must be done when the plants are perfectly dry and the weather clear, a sunny day about noon is the best time for the work. If tied up when wet or damp the heads will rot. If not tied up growth will start in the heads, they will turn purple and green and be unfit for food. It is upon the successful tying up of the cauliflower that its successful culture depends; like the cabbage it requires a rich, well fertilized soil and applications of nitrate of soda once a week during the growing season will hasten the development of the head; wood ashes, too, are beneficial.
The insect enemies of the cauliflower are those of the cabbage, but they molest it in a somewhat lesser degree. The remedies to be employed are the same.
There are two important varieties of cauliflower—the Snowball and the Dry Weather. The former is a poor cropper in dry seasons unless artificial irrigation can be supplied. The Dry Weather Cauliflower, on the other hand, seems to be at its best in a dry season and will give fine heads when the other fails. As one can not forecast what the rainfall of any given season will be it is well to be provided against any contingency by planting both varieties of cauliflower; by this forethought one will be assured of a crop whatever the weather and the snowballs that failed to head during August and September may come on in October and November and give a late crop for pickling.
In the majority of gardens cauliflowers are grown exclusively for pickling; this is a mistake for there is no vegetable more delicate and toothsome than this; it outclasses cabbage and when fried in batter or breaded with egg and cracker crumbs, it affords a most excellent substitute for meat, indeed, it is really more acceptable when no meat dish accompanies it; for this reason—its desirability as a table vegetable—special pains should be taken to produce early heads, by starting in hotbeds, transplanting into cold frames, fertilizing with nitrate and giving special attention to thorough cultivation throughout its growing period. If water can be supplied, a thorough drenching of the roots once or twice a week, followed by a cultivation the following morning to restore the dust-mulch, will be of much benefit.
The green cabbage worm is sometimes very troublesome on the heads and leaves of cauliflowers and one should watch for the presence of the white cabbage butterfly as this will indicate whether one may expect an attack of caterpillars. If once the worms have become established spraying with hot water of from 130° to 140° will exterminate all with which it comes in contact, as worms are far more sensitive to hot water than are the plants which they infect.
CORN
Is one of the most profitable of the garden's offerings; there is, practically, no loss connected with it; a delicious vegetable for the table in its green state, fresh from the stalk; it is equally welcome when it appears sweet and toothsome from the can in winter or, conserved in a dried state, is soaked and cooked the same as fresh corn. There is no waste in the unused corn that remains ungathered on the stalks for it may be saved for seed another year or fed to the poultry, while the stalks, cut and cured, make excellent feed for cow, horse or rabbits. Cut while green and made into ensilage it is the best substitute for green feed in winter for any animal that eats green food. Much green feed for stock may be secured from the corn patch in summer by removing all the side shoots that do not bear ears and feeding them to the pigs or rabbits. This is of benefit to the corn as it allows all the strength of the plant to go into the ears instead of being wasted in growing useless foliage.