John Rogers, in his "Vegetable Cultivator" (London, 1843), said: "There
are two varieties of the cauliflower, the early and the late, which are
alike in their growth and size, only that the early kind, as the name
implies, comes in about a week before the other, provided the true sort
has been obtained. There is, however, no certainty of knowing this,
unless by sowing the seed from the earliest sorts, as is the practice of
the London kitchen gardeners. The early variety was grown for a number
of years in the grounds called the Meat-house Gardens, at Millbank, near
Chelsea, and was of a superior quality, and generally the first at
market. The late variety is supposed to have originated from a stock for
many years cultivated on a piece of ground called the Jamaica level,
near Deptford, and which produced uncommonly fine heads, but later than
those at Millbank. Both soils are nearly similar, being a deep rich
loam, on a moist subsoil, and continually enriched with dung. Both the
varieties are of a delicate nature, being generally too tender to resist
the cold of the winter season without the occasional aid of glasses or
other means; and the sight of many acres overspread with such glasses in
the vicinity of London gives a stranger a forcible idea of the riches
and luxury of the capital."
In France, in 1824, three varieties, differing mainly in earliness, were
recognized, _le dur_, _le_ _demi-dur_ and _le tendre_. These names are
still applied to well known French sorts.
Victor Paquet, in his _Plantes Potagers_, published at Paris in 1846,
says: "The greater number of varieties of cauliflower are white, but
some are green or reddish. They are cooked in water, and dressed with
oil or white sauce. We cultivate two distinct varieties, _tendre_ and
_demi-dur_. The sub-varieties _gros_ and _petit Solomon_ are sorts of
the _tendre_."
Thus we see that early in the present century there were sorts differing
at least in time of maturity which had originated by selection; and,
although history does not show it, we must infer that even then there
were distinct differences in the cauliflowers cultivated in different
parts of Europe. From this time on cauliflowers from various localities
were brought more into public notice and greater efforts were made
toward their improvement.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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