Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1912-06-01

lJlss
consideration in growing the crop.
'Inasmuch as this crop stands on
the land during all the winter and
part Of the spring it is essential that
the soil be well drained and that no
water stand on 1t during the winter.
Medium heavy clay loan, well fertil-
lied with suitable manure, is good for
this crop, or any well drained land
that Is not too sandy or too heavy
should be suitable for growing broc-
coli. Where the plants stand in water
during the winter time, however, there
ls great tendency for them to rot
and die.
"The seed for this crop is common
ly sown either during April or May.
II is customary to SOW very thinly,
broadcast or in rows about three inch
es apart on we'll prepared land out
doors. The seed bed should be care
fully spaded and finely raked, and
should be located so that the plants
can be watered at various intervals.
There will be but one transplantlng
directly to the field, and consequently
1t will be necessary to have the plants
stand about two and a half inches
apart from each other in the seedbed,
so the sowing will have to be careful
ly done. The seed may be covered
quarter of an inch and during dry
weather the bed must be kept moist.
Transplanting to the field will usu-
ally take place about six or seven
weeks after seed sowing, and is usu-
ally done during weather that is dull
or showery. Where this is not possi-
BILE 1t will be necessary to handle the
plants very carefully so as to lose
none of them during transplanting.
"The plants should be about six
inches high before they are removed
and the bed should be well watered
down several hours before lifting. The
field should have been previously
stirred so as to have as much moist
ure at the surface as possible and
fertilization should have been prevl-
ously made in the spring by means Of
well-rotted manure The common dis
tance for setting these plants is thir-
ty to thirty-six inches between the
rows and twenty to twenty-four inch
es between the plants In the rows In
dry weather 1t will be necessary to
water the plants at setting time and
then for few days until they get we'll
established. It is far better to set
the plants in the afternoon than at
any other time in the day Cultiva-
ton should be kept up assiduously so
that the plants may get all the moist
ure available Where irrigation Is pos
sible, II should by all means be prac-
ticed. The plants cannot grow too
fast during the dry, warm days, but
they will not make their best growth
until the warm rains in the fall.
Most varieties OF brocqoll begin to
head some time In January, February
or March, which months are often Sc
we're in temperature, but the plants
under these circumstances will be
oble to stand any ordinary winter that
western Oregon can produce.
THE blanching of head is a most
important thing. When the head first
forms and Is about the size OF base
ball, the larger outside leaves Of the
plants should be tied together over
the head to protect It from rain and
general weather conditions, or the
larger leaves may be broken over the
head for the same purpose About
twenty or twenty-five days after the
bleaching has begun, depending on the
weather, the heads will be ready to
cut They should be solid and have q
fine, homogeneous white mass rather
than loose, 'ricey' appearance, which
indicates that the head has been toe
long In the field before marketing
When the heads are cut the outside
leaves should he left on but trimmed
down to point so that the top leaI
stock is In the same line with the tor
Of the califlower head, or If II is to bt
Ghlpped quite a distance II would be
wise to let the trim be slightly Longer
or TO leave some Of the outside leaves
on altogether as q protection In the
crate. The field must be carefully
locked over every few days after
hiNuNhlhk Nulllllthttb 30 llHl tNtI9
head will be marketed in It's proper
condition.
Some of the best known varieties
put out by the English firm OF Suttor
& Sons are the Autumn Protecting
Snow White, Satisfaction, Winter
Mammoth, Superb Early White, ant
Late Queen
ut is especially desirable tha
those experimenting with this crol
keep n careful record Of their worl
and report the same to the depart
ment Of horticulture, section OF veg
otable gardening, and It Is desired tha
we get all the data possible on TIN
growing Of this important crop"