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ORIGINAL COMMUiVICATIONS 



XVII. — Oil the Cultivation of Celery. By James Duncan, 

 C.M.H.S., Gardener to Joseph Martineau, Esq., F.H.S., 

 Basing Park. Alton. 



(Communicated March 17, 1851.) 



To cultivate the same area of ground for any lengthened pe- 

 riod, so as to produce in tolerable perfection the varieties of 

 vegetables usually grown for the consumption of a family, re- 

 quires the adoption of a well-regulated system, by which not 

 only a proper rotation of crops can be maintained, but it is also 

 essential as a means of successful cultivation that the earth 

 be well pulverized and aerated as often as the nature of the 

 several crops will admit of it ; and, when the soil is of an ob- 

 stinate or sterile character, the necessity for this will be the 

 more readily apparent. In all farm operations the value of a 

 proper rotation of crops is fully recognised and acted on — 

 how much more necessary then is such a system in garden 

 practice, where the nature of the crops cultivated assimilates 

 so very closely ! And as the turnip crop forms the basis 

 of the field system of cultivation, so, in like manner, I have 

 chosen the celery crop as that on which to found my gardening 

 routine, because by the particular mode I adopt in the cultiva- 

 tion of this vegetable, the greatest scope is given for a thorough 

 turning and aeration of the soil, exposing it alike to the winter's 

 frosts and the summer's sun, by which the most obdurate and 

 sterile staple becomes friable, and consequently better fitted for 

 all general purposes of culture. 



In the month of .June the broccoli and cauliflower section of the 

 Brassica family is planted, and so arranged that the celery trenches 

 for the next season's crop may be formed as soon as the cauli- 

 flowers have perfected their growth, and in this operation the 

 mould is placed among the stems of the broccoli, which, with 

 after covering, effectually protects them from the severity of 

 the winter ; and when the ground is in a condition to require 

 draining, these trenches afford a ready means for the performance 

 of the operation. The manure is placed in the trenches during 



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