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VARIETIES.

The varieties of cauliflower differ among themselves less than those of
most other vegetables, and their characters are less firmly fixed. Their
tendency to degenerate, especially under unfavorable conditions, and the
readiness with which they may be improved by selection, has given rise
within recent years to numerous so called varieties, some of them but
slightly differing from those from which they originated. These have
frequently received the names of the seedsmen who first sent them out.
Many of these seedmen's varieties have dropped out of cultivation, as
well as other varieties which have appeared from time to time, but which
have not possessed sufficient distinctive merit. Some varieties, from
not having been kept up to their original standard, have reverted to
those from which they sprang, or become so like them that their names
have come to be regarded as synonyms.

Nevertheless, all such names have been brought together in the following
catalogue, and all the obtainable information given concerning the
varieties which they represent. The testimony given is sometimes
contradictory, either from want of proper observation on the part of
the writers quoted, or from differences in the seeds sold under the same
name. This is necessarily somewhat confusing to one who is looking up
the merits of a variety, but it will form a better basis for judgment
than would a mere descriptive list, without reference to dates or
authorities. It is practically impossible to make a satisfactory
classification which will include all the varieties, and they have
therefore been arranged here in alphabetical order, as being most
convenient for reference. Nearly all of the most popular varieties have,
however, characters sufficiently distinct so that they can be easily
recognized. Some have short stems, others long; some are early, others
late; some have upright leaves, others drooping; their color varies from
grassy to bluish green; the heads vary from snow-white to cream-colored,
and in two or three varieties classed with the cauliflowers they are
reddish or purple, as in some of the broccolis. The form of the head
varies from flat to conical.

Most of our varieties have come from a few stocks whose characters, as
well as those of their descendants, seem to have been largely determined
by the locality in which they originated or have long been grown. The
Algiers, Paris and Erfurt groups are examples. In each of th