FOREIGN NOTICES. 



531 



hashed along the rows will be found a preventive 

 ■of their ravages. The kitchen garden here being 

 wpon a boggy subsoil, and below the level of the 

 river Dart, which pa.sses through the grounds, I 

 do not find it necessary to water the plants more 

 than once or twice after they are planted out ■ but 

 in more elevated situations it is almost impossible 

 to give too much water, always, however, pre- 

 ferring to give a thorough soaking once every 

 fortnight, rather than daily dribbliiigs, which, in 

 omy opinion, do more harm than good. V/ere I so 

 disposed, I have no doubt I could grow this cele- 

 ry dottble the size of that sent 5 and to effect this, 

 I should prepare the plants as before directed, 

 «xcavate the trenches 18 iiK;hes deep aiid the 

 same in width, and fill them with a compost con- 

 sisting of good turfy loam, peat, and leaf-mould, 

 or thoroughly decomposed cow-dung, in about 

 «qual quantities. Very rich dung is not good for 

 ■celery, and strong manure water should also be 

 avoided. To grow large celery it would be ne- 

 •cessary to place the plants 18 inches apart in the 

 row, and the ground should be kept constantly 

 «tired about the plants, taking great care, how- 

 ever, to prevent the soil getting into the hearts of 

 ^he plants during the operations. In a late num- 

 ber of the "* Journal of the Horticultural Society,' I 

 perceive Mr, Errington attributes the coarse and 

 4)ad quality of the large celery grown for market 

 40 the luxuriance of its growth. Here, I venture 

 to assert he is wrong. The bad quality of the 

 celery is attributable to the bad kinds grown, 

 as I am quite sure no person could grow this kind 

 •of celery, which has been named Cole's Superb 

 Hed, so as to make it eitlver pipy or stringy, or 

 Inferior in flavor. Late earthing has more to 

 ido with making celery stringy than anytliing else, 

 as it is quite certain if the leaves of celery are 

 exposed to full light and dry air for a length of 

 time, the tissue will become harder than if the 

 leaves were grown in comparative darkness. We 

 need no stronger proof of this than the acrid fla- 

 vor of the outer as compared with the inner 

 leaves of the same celery, a fact demonstrating 

 that if the leaves are exposed for a long time they 

 acquire an acrid flavor which no blanching can 

 ^'holly remove. For an early crop of celery I 

 ■sow in heat early in January, and prick the plants 

 upon a slight hot-bed 5 for a. second crop in Feb- 

 ruary in heat, ^s before directed, and for a late 

 <;rop in March in the open garden." — Gard.Chron. 



Preparation for Seed-sowing. — If we take 

 a survey of our neighbors' gardens in the months 

 <of May or June, we shall findgreat difTeren- 

 <ces in the state of the crops, some being very 

 •much in advance of others, although the soil and 

 ■situation are in all the eases the same. Peas, 

 Beans, Onions, &c., are more valuable by being 

 produced early, and it is therefore important to 

 fenow how this can be best accomplished. "When 

 4id you sow your Onions ?" sa.ys one gardener to 

 i&iaoiiies, ^' for ihey are bulbing while oiine are 



scarcely above the ground." " In the middle of 

 February," is the reply. " How did you manage 

 that ?" rejoins the inquirer, " for at that time my 

 ground was so wet that I could do nothing with 

 it." The explanation of this apparent mystery, 

 by which one man gets the start of his neighbor, 

 is simple enough, although in practice the matter 

 is too much neglected. 



Some gardeners neglect their ground from the 

 autums until the opening spring reminds them 

 that it is time to bestir themselves, and put in the 

 seeds for the crops of vegetables so highly prized 

 when grown early emd well. Acting on this pre- 

 monition he goes to ihe garden, and the day being 

 warm and sunny he anticipates no difficulty, and 

 hopes before evening to commit to the earth the 

 seeds he has prepared. But he is grievously dis- 

 appointed. The first stroke of the spade or fork 

 reminds him that a bright day or two are not suf- 

 ficient to drasv off the moisture occasioned by the 

 rains and snows of the whole winter. His shoes 

 are heavy with the atlhering clods, and his spade 

 almost refuses to do its work, and he is compelled 

 to desist. Next da}' probably it rains again, and 

 it is not until a continuance of March winds have 

 dried up the earth, that he can accomplish his pur- 

 pose. In the meanwhile his neighbor has sown all 

 his seeds, and they are above the ground. How 

 did he accomplish this ? 



This more successful gardener came to his beds 

 on the bright day mentioned above, and began, 

 not to dig, but to level the hacks and the trenches 

 which had been thrown up and dug out some 

 months or M'eeks previously. He found the soil 

 nicely p'ulveriaed, and when the spade had thus 

 done its easy work, the rake was available, and 

 the work was done. The secret of his success is, 

 that he had thrown up his ground before the frosts 

 came, and they did gently and quietly, yet effactu- 

 ally, what no skill and labor could otherwise have 

 accomplished. It is this foresight which is indis- 

 pensable for early seed sowing. Nor is this the 

 only benefit resulting from this trenching in win- 

 ter. Insects are prevented from increasing, and 

 the soil is more capable of causing a rapid germi- 

 nation of the seed. This work had better have 

 been done before Christmas, but it is not now too 

 late. Let every part of your kitchen garden 

 which is unoccupied be thrown into ridge and fur- 

 row, and after a sharp frost you will experience 

 the benefit. Unless this advice is taken you can- 

 not sow early, nor will the operation be performed 

 so well whenever you may do it. H. B. Gard. 

 Chron. .... 



Preparation of Soil for Pottinc, &c. — 

 Nothing is more vexatious to the amateur garden- 

 er, than to find it necessary to repot his plants, 

 and be destitute, at the same time, of the right 

 material. Or perhaps some choice plants are 

 given to him, around the roots of which he sees 

 fragments of a light, porous, and healthy-looking 

 compost, and he looks all round his garden for 

 something of the same quality, in which to pot 



