200 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



working up the bottom so as to leave a 

 foot of fine soil, will certainly be many 

 times more than working with the 

 plough and planting on the level sur- 

 face. Our author then directs ;is to 

 tie each plant to a stake three feet 

 high, and keep them upright by fre- 

 quent tyings during the whole period 

 of their growth. Well, this is some- 

 thing new ; at least we do not remem- 

 ber to have read or heard of such a 

 procedure in celery culture. If the 

 object be to make celery-gTOwing as 

 troublesome and expensive as possible, 

 then this is good advice. Fancy a 

 market gardener tying up a couple of 

 acres of celery plants in this way. An 

 acre will contain fifty-five rows, four 

 feet apart, and one hundred and ninety- 

 eight feet long. If set six inches apart 

 in the row, each acre will contain 

 twenty-one thousand seven hundx-ed 

 plants. What would the gardener's 

 crop cost him if he were to follow this 

 advice ] We are further advised that 

 gi'een corn husks are excellent for 

 tying the plants to these stakes, be- 

 cause it is soft, flexible, never cuts the 

 plant, and decays readily when the cel- 

 ery has been earthed up. We cannot 

 say how many ears of green corn must 

 be husked to .supply husks for the tying 

 of an acre of celery, but this involves 

 the growing of an acre or so of corn 

 to supply the husks, and as it is not 

 usual for the market gardener to husk 

 the corn before sending it to market, 

 he will probably have to feed this green 

 corn to his pigs in order to supply him- 

 self with the requisite husks. 



Then our author advises to depend 

 on water to keep the celery fresh and 

 growing. From first to last the mea- 

 sure of water you give will be the 

 measure of your success, is the axiom 

 given. But this is no new idea. The 

 readers of the report of the Fruit 

 Growers' Association for the year 1882, 

 will remember that on page 33 the 



advantage of having a plentiful supply 

 of water is fully set forth. But great 

 as that advantage may be, it would be 

 a great mistake to conclude that celery 

 can not be grown and well grown with- 

 out an artificial supply of water. Our 

 market gardeners, who grow celery by 

 the acre, depend upon the clouds for 

 their supply, and seldom fail of raising 

 excellent crops. 



The plan usually pursued by them is 

 substantially the following : — The 

 ground having been prepared by pre- 

 vious ploughing and harrowing, fur- 

 rows are opened at about fourfeet apart; 

 these are filled with compost from the 

 compost heap, which has been made 

 tine by repeated turnings. With the 

 })lough the earth is thrown over the 

 compost, the ridges formed by this 

 oijeration are then flattened with the 

 roller, and the plants set out in straight 

 lines over the compost. The space be- 

 tween the rows is frequently stirred 

 with the cultivator, and the gi'ound 

 about the plants kept loose by hoeing. 

 637^ this means the whole surface is kept 

 loose and friable all the time and the 

 celery rarely sufiers for want of water. 

 When the plants have attained suffici- 

 ent size they are carefully handled, and 

 the earth drawn about each plant suffi- 

 ciently to hold the stalks together. The 

 earth is then thrown up to the plants 

 with the plough and firmed about them 

 Avith the hand. One earthing up to- 

 wards the end of the season is quite 

 sufficient. 



THE WHEAT CROP. 



The report of the Bureau of Indus- 

 fries for August gives a cheering account 

 of the wheat crop of the Province. The 

 fall wheat appears to have made steady 

 improvement throughout the season, and 

 in localities where it was regarded as 

 hardly worth saving in May, good har- 

 vests have been reaped. The moder- 



