^60 



TJic Gnuitry Gcntlcmaiis Magazine 



^\t daviien. 



CELERY CULTURE IN AMERICA. 



THE following article by Mr Peter Hen- 

 derson, South Bergen, New York, will 

 be found to differ in many particulars from 

 the modes of Celery Culture practised in 

 i^reat Britain, and we would especially direct 

 attention to " The preparation of the soil and 

 planting of celery for winter use," as being 

 worthy of trial in course of the present 

 autumn. 



I know no vegetable on the cultivation of 

 which there is so much useless labour expen- 

 ded with such unsatisfactory results as celery. 

 Almost all private cultivators still think it 

 necessary to dig out trenches, from 6 to 1 2 

 inches deep, involving great labour and ex- 

 pense, and giving a very inferior crop to that 

 planted on the level surface, in the manner 

 practised on hundreds of acres by the market 

 gardeners in the vicinity of New York. 



Our manner of treating the celery crop, of 



late years, is very much simplified. Instead 



of sowing the seed in a hot-bed or cold frame, 



as formerly, it is sown in the open ground as 



soon as the ground is fit to work in spring — 



here about first week in April — on a level 



piece of rich mellow soil, that has been 



specially prepared by thorough pulverising 



and mixing with short stable manure. The 



bed being fined down by raking, so that it is 



clear of stones and all inequalities, lines are 



•drawn out by the "marker," 8 or 9 inches 



apart, in beds of 8 rows in a bed, rubbing 



■out every 9th line for an alley, on which to 



walk when weeding, &c. The seed should 



be sown rather thinly, one ounce being sufii- 



cient for every 20 feet in length of such a 



bed. After sowing, the bed should be rolled, 



or patted down with a spade, which 7tnll give 



the seed sufficient covering. 



As soon as the seeds of celery begin to 



germinate, so that the rows can be traced, 

 hoe lightly between the rows, and begin to 

 pull out the weeds as soon as they can be 

 seen. One day's work, at the proper time, 

 will be better than a dozen after the seed-bed 

 gets enveloped with weeds, besides ensuring 

 much finer plants. 



As the plants advance in growth, the tops 

 are shorn off generally twice before the time 

 of setting out, so as to induce a stocky growth ; 

 plants, thus treated, suffer less on being trans- 

 planted. 



Celery may be planted any time from 

 middle of June to middle of August ; but the 

 time we most prefer is during July, as there is 

 but little gained by attempting it early. In 

 fact, I have often seen plants raised in hot- 

 beds and planted out in June, far surpassed 

 both in size and quality by those raised in the 

 open ground a month later. Celery is a plant 

 requiring a cool moist atmosphere, and it is 

 nonsense to attempt to grow it early in our 

 hot and dry climate ; and even when grown 

 it is not a vegetable that is ever very palatable 

 imtil cool weather. This our market experi- 

 ence well proves, for although we always have 

 a few bunches exposed for sale in August and 

 September, there is not one root sold then 

 for a thousand that are sold in October and 

 November. Celery is always grown as a 

 " second crop " by us — that is, it follows after 

 the spring crop of beets, onions, cabbage, 

 cauliflower, or peas, which are cleared off 

 and marketed, at latest by middle of July ; 

 the ground is then thoroughly ploughed and 

 harrowed. No additional manure is used, as 

 enough remains in the ground, from the heavy 

 coat it has received in the spring, to carry 

 through the crop of celery. After the ground 

 has been nicely prepared, lines are struck out 



