Cauliflower Many new cultivars which have been introduced in recent years are more reliable in their cropping and give better quality curds than older varieties. For summer and autumn production newer cultivars include 'Mechelse-Classic' and 'Mechelse-Delta' which can be cut at the end of June and 'Dominant' in July. 'Nevada' will then produce crops maturing in July, August and September from successional sowings while 'Flora Blanca' will crop in SeptemberOctober and 'Barrier Reef is useful for the October November period. This crop is particularly sensitive to dry conditions and to ensure high-quality curds regular watering is essential. Experiments have shown that curd size can be controlled by plant spacing with the largest heads being produced on plants grown at wide spacing-30 by 3oin(75 by 75cm). With cauliflowers, however, it has been shown that certain cultivars of the 'Alpha', 'Mechelse' or 'Snowball' type can be grown as close as 6 by 6in(i5 by 15cm) to produce a new type of crop, "mini-cauliflower". Small curds only 1V2 to 3in(4 to 8cm) in size are produced but nearly all at the same time and they are particularly suitable for freezing whole. Alternatively, by successional sowings from mid-March to the end of June, a continuous supply of small curds can be obtained fresh for the table from July to October. CARROTS Most gardeners could improve their yields by applying some of the newer developments in cultural methods. For early crops of the 'Amsterdam Forcing' type sown into cold soil, seed should be dusted with thiram or captan as a precautionary measure against the "damping-off" disease of seedlings. There are also advantages in pre-germinating the seed and fluid-sowing to get much earlier seedling emergence. Rows should not be more than 6in(i5cm) apart and the aim should be for a low population of five to seven plants per square foot(50 to 70 plants per m2) for these early crops in order to get rapid growth. For main crops of medium-sized roots cultivars of the 'Chantenay' or 'Autumn King' types should be sown at the end of May, aiming to get 15 to 20 plants per square foot(i50 to 200 plants per m2) of ground. The roots can be lifted in November for storage or, preferably, be left in the ground protected by a layer of leaves or other material, for lifting during the winter. Carrot root fly is the main pest and to minimise attacks sow early and late to avoid the main periods of attack; do not thin the crops, and apply diazinon, chlorpyrifos or bromophos along the rows at sowing time. The willow-carrot aphid can also be troublesome but this pest can now be readily controlled by spraying with a systemic aphicide such as dimethoate. CELERY The self-blanching cultivars such as 'Avonpearl', 'Greensnap' and 'Lathom Self-Blanching' use much less room than the trench types. Provided they are grown on very fertile soil and are watered frequently a spacing of 12 by ioin(30 by 25cm) will give good quality sticks and if only celery hearts are wanted the plants can be as close as 6 by 6in(i5 by 15cm).