Seed of kohl rabi, early cabbage and cauliflower should be sown in a
hotbed, and the plants transplanted to the open ground when four inches
high.
Kohl rabi is grown for its turnip-shaped bulb, which is formed above
ground, by the expansion of the stem. The bulb should be used while
young and tender, as age detracts from its good quality. Set the
plants eight inches apart in the row. For later use sow seed in drills
and thin to the proper distance apart. When well grown and properly
prepared for the table, the kohl rabi is one of the most desirable of
vegetables, and should be in every garden. _Early White Vienna_ is
the best variety.
Plant early cabbage in rows, with plants eighteen inches apart in the
row. After trying several different sorts I have decided upon _Early
Jersey Wakefield_, _Early Flat Dutch_, and _Fottler’s Brunswick_, as
the best varieties for this latitude, and, as the cabbage worm has made
late cabbage an uncertain crop for several years past here, in southern
Illinois, we have planted largely of the Early Flat Dutch cabbage and
had it picked and put up before the cabbage worm made its appearance.
This I know, from experience, to be better than the use of all the
insect powders combined.[20]
To grow cauliflower to perfection, the ground needs extra heavy
manuring, and the plants must be supplied with an abundance of water
as soon as heads begin to form. Plants should stand the same distance
apart as early cabbage. The outside leaves should be pinned together
over the centre, to shield the head from the direct rays of the sun,
which often cause it to turn green, thus rendering it inferior in
quality or entirely unfit for use. _Early Snowball_ and _Erfurt_ are
both good and reliable. Nowhere does success depend more on the quality
of the seed than in the cauliflower.