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JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ Maroh 31, 1870 



on the other hand, do not reproduce itself, bat the Paccinia, 

 thus famishing a striking instance of alternation of generation. 

 The connection of the Berberry with the prevalence of rust in 

 Wheat was noticed by Sir Joseph Banks as long ago as 1806. 

 In the commune of Genlis (Department of Cote d'Or), a rail- 

 way company not long since planted a Berberry hedge on one 

 of its embankments j immediately the crops of Wheat, Rye, ana 

 Barley in the neighbourhood became infested with rust. The 

 remonstances of the farmers caused the appointment of a com- 

 missioner to inquire into the subject, who, after a fall inquiry, 

 reported that wherever the Berberry is planted the cereals are 

 more or less attacked by rust ; where they are absent the crops 

 are free from disease, and that the planting of a single Ber- 

 berry bush is sufficient to produce the rast where it has never 

 appeared before. — (Nature ) 



CELERY CULTURE. 



I have to provide for an average consumption of ten heads 

 of Celery a-day for at least five months, and such a consump- 

 tion, I hope, is large enough for me to lay claim to some 

 knowledge of the cultivation of this favourite vegetable ; I 

 therefore purpose detailing the course of culture which I have 

 found successful, though I do not assert that it is the best, bat 

 from several years' experience I venture to say it will not dis- 

 appoint those who may follow my directions. 



The first consideration is the time and method of sowing the 

 seed. I generally sow at three different times, and these sow- 

 ings provide for the early, the general, and the late crop. The 

 first crop should be sown about the middle or end of February, 

 the next about the second week in March, and the last sowing 

 may be deferred until the middle of April. 



The first sowing being the smallest, and made at an early 

 season, the seed is generally sown in shallow boxes or seed 

 pans in gentle heat. Whether they are placed in a vinery, 

 pit, or dung frame, the young plants come up equally well. 

 They require to be thrice transplanted, and must be grown 

 aader protection, and finally hardened-off before going into 

 the trenches. The next sowing, being the largest and most im- 

 portant, it is as well to make a good preparation for it. As it 

 is, like the first sowing, benefited by gentle heat, I put up 

 a 2-feet bed of spent hotbed manure, and either place a single- 

 light frame on it, or the plants are raised under hand- 

 lights. If the former mode be adopted, fill the frame with 

 manure to within 6 inches of the glass, cover the bed with an 

 inch of fine soil, and sow the seed, dividing the sorts by a lath 

 or stick placed across the frame. For the latest crop, the seed 

 • may be sown in good garden soil without protection. 



Great care will be necessary, especially with the first crop, 

 that the plants are not drawn up weakly by standing too long 

 in the seed pan ; they must be kept close to the glass, and not 

 have too much heat. The second and third crops require but 

 once transplanting before going into the trenches. la what I 

 may call the nursery beds the cultivator has the opportunity 

 to prepare sturdy plants, and provide for their safe removal to 

 the trenches. I have been very successful by the following 

 plan: — Select a border where the plants will not be exposed to 

 the full force of the midday sun, and will likewise be sheltered 

 from the coldest winds ; level and beat the soil firm ; on it 

 place a layer of rotten manure 4 inches thick, beat this down 

 firm and level; cover it 1 inch thick with finely-9ifted light 

 soil ; water, and make the surface very even ; and prick out 

 the plants 4 inches apart each way, and every twelve rows 

 leave a space of a foot wide to afford a pathway for attending to 

 the plants. In the first few days the plants will be the better 

 of a few green boughs laid across the beds on poles, both for 

 shelter and shade, until started, when they will be as well 

 without them. They must now have careful attention aB to 

 watering, and be otherwise encouraged to become good plants. 

 A small black snail sometimes attacks the plants, and will 

 eat many off in a night ; however, a timely application of 

 finely-sifted quicklime and soot will check its ravages, and do 

 the plants no harm. 



Simultaneously with the raising of the plants, the ground 

 on which to grow the crop should be selected. If the crop is 

 a large one, and grown on the single row or narrow-trench 

 system — a plan which I very much prefer, a good space of 

 ground will be required. Some have the trenches 4 feet, others 

 prefer them 5 feet apart ; but as I have in view the cropping 

 •f the ground between the trenches, I find C feet, meaauring 

 from centre to centre of each trench, a convenient distance, 

 and by taking off 8 inches on each side the trenches will be 



16 inches wide. The depth may vary according to the season 

 at which it is intended to use the Celery. The early crops 

 require a trench deeper than the late crops ; beginning with 

 1 foot and diminishing to 6 inches I have found answer well. 

 After taking off the trenches, the space of ground available 

 for cropping will be 4 feet 8 inches wide. Some may prefer the 

 trenches both wider and deeper, but I have found the above 

 large enough to grow a fair-sized solid-stemmed plant, which 

 is preferable to a large pithy one that will not keep well. If 

 it is intended to crop the ground, the trenches should be dug 

 out early in March and filled with good rotten, moist manure, 

 treading it down and covering it with 3 inches of soil. After- 

 wards dig the ground between the trenches. 



I generally associate the Spanish Cardoon and Musselburgh 

 Leek with the Celery crop, devoting to each a trench, which 

 may be dug and cropped at the same time. The Beed of the 

 former is sown in the trench in the middle of April, and the 

 latter is transplanted from a bed of seed sown in March on a 

 warm border. 



If it is possible, I arrange for the trenches to run north and 

 south ; and as I do not agree with earthing-up Celery — the 

 earliest crop excepted — as it grows, there is ample time for 

 successional crops of Peas between the trenches ; and if the 

 sowing ia arranged so that the first Peas to come off shall be 

 where the first Celery is to be dug up, there will be plenty of 

 time afterwards for blanching the Celery for use. Celery 

 delights in an abundance of moisture at the root, as well as 

 in shelter and partial shade, and the Pea crop is an excellent 

 means of providing the latter two, and of preventing too rapid 

 evaporation. 



Having now completed the arrangements necessary for the 

 well-doing of the crop, planting out, which will generally be 

 in June aud July, may next be considered. The plants will 

 then be about 8 inches high, stout, and strong. If they have 

 been planted as previously advised, it will only be necessary 

 to run the spade between the plants both ways, cutting through 

 the manure, and then by pushing the spade underneath the 

 plants between the soil of the border and manure, each plant 

 will be taken up with a good-sized ball full of roots, and can 

 be carried to the trench in safety. If this work be performed 

 by a painstaking, active hand, the plants will scarcely suffer 

 from their removal. In planting, draw a drill along the centre 

 of each trench wide enough to take the roots comfortably, 

 water well, and all is finished. 



In its wild state Celery grows by the sides of ditches and in 

 marshy places, and in its cultivation water must be supplied 

 most liberally. The soil should be frequently stirred about 

 the roots, and when the plants have arrived at about half their 

 full growth examine them, pull off the suckers, and give just 

 sufficient earth to keep the plants steady. In order to keep the 

 foliage from spreading too much, and to protect the plants 

 from damage through working about them, procure a bundle 

 of common rushes, and tie one loosely round each plant ; and 

 the same means may be adopted to hold the plants together at 

 the time of earthing-up. The rushes may be left on, as the 

 moisture of the soil soon causes them to decay, and sets the 

 plant at liberty. 



Before earthing-np I prefer waiting until the plants have 

 nearly completed their growth, for by doing so better attention 

 can be paid to watering, the plants have more liberty to grow, 

 and by having a free circulation of air always about them the 

 leafstalks become hardened and the outer skin tougher, enabling 

 them to withstand excessive wet and the attacks of wire- 

 worm and other enemies better than they would otherwise do. 

 When Celery is grown for use in September and October, 

 blanching by frequent earthing-up is the only way of having it 

 tender at that time. Of course it will be understood that all 

 the crop must be finally earthed-up before winter sets in, and 

 afterwards, if severe frost occur, protect the top with litter ; and 

 should there be any danger of the frost penetrating through 

 the earth to the Celery, a quantity should be dug-up, and 

 stored under cover in sand or earth. 



The principal enemies to the Celery crop are the wireworm, 

 which attacks the stalks under the soil, and the maggot in the 

 leaf. To check the attacks of the former, I have found it a 

 good plan to place sifted coal ashes, coarse sand, or road drift 

 round the plants as earthiDg-up goes on. As to the maggot, 

 I do not remember ever having escaped one season without it. 

 I have watched for it in July, and kept it in check by hand- 

 picking, which I find the best remedy. 



I am somewhat at a loss to know what varieties to recom- 

 mend for cultivation, as I am sorry to say that I cannot often 



