366 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[December, 



grafts in stub about the last of April. And now, 

 September 29th, the longest shoots are respect- 

 ively 66, 58 and 57 inches long, and the whole 

 shoots and side branches show a growth of 49 

 feet of wood, which is doing well for a late 



HOW I RAISE EARLY CELERY AND KEEP 

 IT TILL SPRING. 



BY AUG. D. MYLIUS, GARDENER, DETROIT, MICH. 



I SOW my seed in a hot-bed on the 1st of March. 

 The bed must be in good condition, that the seed 

 may germinate quickly ; for celery seed takes 

 thirty days, generally, in open ground, to germi- 

 nate. Seed must not be sown too thickly, as the 

 plants should be stocky. I have tried to germi- 

 nate the seeds by keeping them moist and warm 

 before 1st of March, but I found the above date 

 safest, for if sown earlier, there is danger of the 

 eelery running to seed. About the loth to 20th 

 of May, if the ground is in order, and weather 

 suits, plant out in ditches six inches deep, on the 

 richest spot you have. The only things wanted 

 to grow celery successfully are plenty of cow or 

 hog manure, and moist land. The soil must be 

 good down to at least twelve inches. About the 

 1st of July we commence to bank up, slowly if 

 dry; if moist, draw up as high as you can ; if 

 really dry weather, so that the soil is too dry to 

 stick if drawn up to the plants, I use foot boards 

 sixteen feet long, pressed on each side against 

 the celery, and sticks drove in to keep in place. 

 This mode bleaches the celery best, but if soil 

 be used the stocks or heads are a great deal 

 heavier. I have tried to keep celery in the fol- 

 lowing way, and kept it till spring. Pitted in 

 hot-beds the same as if pitted in the old fashion. 

 After bed is filled, the sash are put on; give air 

 once or twice a week ; if so cold that boards are 

 not sufficient, straw or mats can be put on. 

 Looked after in this way, it can be kept till 

 spring. 



THE CROS COLMAN CRAPE. 



BY JAMES H. BULL, WEST CHESTER, PA. 



In the January number of the Gardener's 

 Monthly appears an article by the editor in 

 answer to queries about this grape for culture in 

 a cold grapery. In the April number A Sigler, 

 of Adrian, Michigan, condemns it as a slow 

 grower and shy bearer, and not of first quality. 

 He calls it '' Gros Colmar." If he grew the 

 Gros Colman in an old grapery, where the bor- 



der was clogged with roots, the wonder with me 

 is, that it ever grew or bore half a crop. 



I obtained cuttings from Dr. Charles Huston, 

 of Coatesvillo, in January, 1878. The eyes were 

 set in February of that year. They were planted 

 in a new lean-to house, about June 1st, in a rich, 

 outside border manured with bone and well- 

 rotted stable manure. I sold the grapes in 

 November, last year, to fruit dealers in Philadel- 

 phia, at $1.00, when B. Hamburgs. Bowoods and 

 Muscat Hamburgs only brought 60c. a pound in 

 October. The grape in quality is little behind 

 the Black Hamburg; is abetter bearer; clusters 

 as large and berries from one-half inch to one 

 and one-fourth inches in diameter. Its flavor is 

 slightly that of a fine cherry. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



HoT-HousE Grapes. — Graperies are becoming 

 more common in the West than they were, not- 

 withstanding the old-time fear that the impiove- 

 ment in the native grape would in time render 

 the culture of the foreign under glass superflu- 

 ous. At Adrian, Michigan, Mr. Sigler grows 

 them very successfully ; white Hamburg and 

 Tokay doing very well with him. 



Gros Colman Grape.— Some doubt has been 

 expressed as to this variety being a good one for 

 a cold vinery. In a city store, recently, we saw 

 some from the grapery of Mr. J. H. Bull, of 

 West Chester, which were perfect in size and 

 color. One bunch had been cut which weighed 

 one pound ten ounces. Certainly no one could 

 desire better success than this in a cold grapery. 



The Best Black Grape. — Suitable alike for 

 the amateur, the market grower, or the gentle- 

 man's gardener, for early forcing or for mid-sea- 

 son consumption is the Black Hamburg, and 

 the best variety of this Hamburg is that known 

 as the Frankenthal. The true Frankenthal 

 variety may be easily detected by the hammered 

 appearance of the berries when they are ripe. 

 This variety also produces longer tapering 

 bunches than the others, with only moderate 

 shoulders. Mill Hill is the next most distinct 

 Hamburg. It produces short bunches with 

 heavy shoulders, and the berries are usually 

 very large, but as a rule it does not color so well 

 as the Frankenthal. Black Prince is a distinct 

 grape that is rather rniflTy in its behavior, but if 

 variety is wanted it may be planted with the 



