PROCEEDINGS OF THE WINTER MEETING. 63 



high ridges in the fall, and the first warm days we have in the spring 

 thaw these ridges out very quickly so they can be leveled down and the 

 seed sown. 



SOWING THE SEEDS. 



I make rows crosswise on these beds eight inches apart and sow my 

 seed thinly if the seed is fresh, thicker if old. I would not risk seed over 

 three or four years old. After my bed is sown I tramp down the seeds 

 firmly with my feet and level the ground afterward with the back of the 

 rake. 



CAEE OF THE PLANTS. 



As soon as the tiny plants begin to show themselves I stir the soil 

 carefully with the " Excelsior weeding hook " between the rows to keep 

 down the weeds and to admit the warmth from the sun. As the plants 

 grow a little larger I thin them out carefully that they may not crowd 

 each other or grow spindling. A spindling plant is worse than useless. 

 I would rather pay fifty cents per hundred for short, stocky plants than 

 risk spindling ones as a gift. Success or failure depends upon the care 

 which the plants receive in their earliest infancy, so to speak. I shear the 

 tops back twice before setting them out. This secures strong, healthy 

 plants with an abundance of fibrous roots which take hold of the soil at 

 once after being transplanted. 



TKANSPLANTING. 



Here is where my practice conflicts with that of other growers, and I 

 shall give my reasons for adopting it. About ten years ago I first tried to 

 grow a few hundred plants, which was considered a great crop at that time. 

 When I got ready to set my plants I went to consult an old, gray-haired 

 Englishman, who lived a few miles away and who had been engaged in 

 growing celery in "Old England" from his boyhood, but had not grown 

 any in this country as yet. He seemed rather reluctant about telling his 

 secret, but being on good terms with the old man, and promising him 

 solemnly to keep the secret to myself, he told me in strict confidence the 

 whole process. I went home rejoicing in heart and began operations at 

 once. It would seem a rather hard task now, but then nothing seemed 

 impossible to me. I worked away like a beaver at m^ trench, which was 

 to be two feet deep and a little over a hundred feet long. My enthusiasm 

 was beyond expression. The work was easy and in three hours the trench 

 was done, and as there was prospect of rain I proceeded to set my plants, 

 after having done which I felt like having done a good day's work. I 

 already began to figure out in my imagination what a handsome j3rofit 

 that hundred-foot trench of celery would bring me, and pictures of 

 mammoth white stalks, such as the old man had raised in " Old England," 

 presented themselves before me. Of course, I did not cover up the trench, 

 as I wanted the plants to get the full benefit of the rain. We had an 

 unusually heavy rain that night and I went out bright and early the next 

 morning to see how my plants were doing, when lo and behold! my trench 

 was full to the brim with water. That finished my celery-growing for 

 that season. I felt like exclaiming with the preacher of old: "All is 



