August, 1913 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



199 



A 150-Foot Tomato House 



Orop Grown in York County. Ont. 



shingled. The part of the roof next the 

 ridge is hinged and used as a venti- 

 lator — a space about eighteen inches 

 wide. The south slope of twelve feet is 

 of glass with wooden sash bars. The 

 ends are partly of glass. The rest of 

 the house is boarded singly and bat- 

 tened . 



The door is wide enough to admit a 

 wheelbarrow. Inside the house is a 

 bench two and one-half feet wide under 

 the south wall. The walk is two feet 

 wide. A hotbed is placed in the centre 

 six feet wide and two and one-half feet 

 high. The ordinary amounts of soil and 

 manure are used in the bed, and ordi- 

 nary hotbed sash used as a cover. On 

 the north wall are two shelves wide 

 enough to hold seed flats. 



The cost of the building for material 

 did not exceed sixty-five dollars. In 

 some sections where lumber is cheap, 

 and where the greater part of the work 

 is performed by the farmer, the cost 

 would be much less. 



The possibilities of such a house are 

 great. The hotbed in the centre is 

 doubly protected and any desirable tem- 

 perature may be maintained there in 

 March. This will be found a desirable 

 place for starting tomato plants and 

 celery and other plants requiring like 

 treatment. By the time the seedlings 

 are large enough to prick out in flats, 

 the temperature of the main house will 

 be found sufficient for the purpose. After 

 the hotbed is cleared melons or cucum- 

 bers may be permanently planted over 

 the spent manure with good prospects 

 of success. 



Lettuce is a cold weather crop, com- 

 paratively speaking, so that it has been 

 found possible to grow an excellent crop 

 of lettuce in early spring and late au- 

 tumn without further heat than that 

 given by the sun. 



Rhubarb may be forced under the 

 benches, and a surprising amount of 

 stalks obtained, out of season, on a 

 small scale. 



Houses of this kind are very popular 

 in some sections. Som( are large, com- 

 paring favorably with the modern green- 

 houses and are satisfactory for the pur- 

 pose for which they are used. 



Methods of Blanching Celery* 



C. p. Halligan, East Lanting, Michigan 



There are different methods that may 

 be used to accomplish the blanching 

 of celery, but on a commercial scale, 

 the only ones of importance prac- 

 tised are blanching by boards and by 

 banking with soil. Formerly most of 

 the celery was blanched by the latter me- 

 thod, but to-day the method employed 

 depends largely upon the time of the year 

 the crop is used. When a crop "is to be 

 blanched during the summer months, one 

 of the self-blanching varieties is grown 

 and the plants blanched by the use of 

 the boards, for if the soil method is used 

 at this time, it causes the plants to rust. 



When celery is to be blanched during 

 the cool weather of the fall, however, it 

 is blanched by banking with soil which 

 produces celery of an excellent flavor 

 and protects the plants from light 

 freezes. When the crop is to be stored 

 for winter use, it will blanch in. storage 

 if the temperature is not too low, and 

 will keep better if not blanched too 

 much in the fields. 



BLANCHING WITH BOARDS 



When a crop is to be blanched by the 

 use of boards, sound hemlock lumber 

 one inch thick, twelve inches wide, and 

 twelve, fourteen, or sixteen feet long, 

 is selected, although at times boards ten 

 inches wide are used to blanch the ear- 



•Ertraot from Bnlletln 60 of the Mlohlgaai Agrj- 

 droitural College Experiment Station. 



liest crop when the plants are not too 

 large. If small cleats are nailed across 

 the ends and middles of the boards, it 

 will tend to prevent splitting and warp- 

 ing. 



In placing the boards for bleaching, 

 they are first laid flat along both sides 

 of the row ; then two men working to- 

 gether at each end of the board, raise 

 the edge nearest to the plants, catching 

 up the outside leaves, until the board is 

 brought into a vertical position along the 

 row ; then, holding it in place with one 

 hand, the board on the opposite of the 

 row is likewise brought into position, 

 a Jitlle soil should be thrown along the 

 lower edge of the boards to close any 

 t.pt rings that may be caused by the iin- 

 evenness of the surface of the soil. 



TTME REQUIRED FOR BLANOHTNI 



From two to three weeks will be re- 

 ouired for blanching the summer crops, 

 depending much uoon the rate of growth 

 and weather conditions. As soon as the 

 crop is properly blanched, it should be 

 harvested, because when left too long it 

 loses its weicht and flavor. After the 

 day's harvesting and packing is finish- 

 ed, the boards are carried to another 

 patch of celery and used to blanch ano- 

 ther crop. In this way, they are used 

 several times in a single season. 



The blanching of fall and winter cel- 

 ery is generally accomplished by the use 

 of soil. This method produces crops of 

 the highest flavor, and for the extensive 

 grower, is the most economical. The 

 banking of celery is generally done by 

 the use of a plow or celery "hiller," 

 which throws the soil up in ridges 

 against the plants. The presence of soil 

 in the heart or crown is conducive to the 

 rapid decay of the plant. 



To prevent the soil from covering the 

 hearts of the plants, the rows are first 

 cultivated and then a small amount of 

 soil is banked against the base of the 

 plants by hand to straighten up the 

 stalks and hold them together. This 

 practice, which is called "handling," 

 leaves the plants ready to be banked by 

 the plow or "hiller," and as the crop 

 continues its growth the "hiller" is used 

 to keep the soil thrown up against the 

 plants. 



Examine the bark of trunks of all trees, 

 especially peach and plum trees, for bor- 

 ers, also all gummy places on peach and 

 plum trees, and dead places on apple 

 trees, as these are probably caused by 

 the borer. Destroy by digging out with 

 a knife. 



Nitrogen promotes leaf and stem 

 growth. So powerful is this influence, 

 that the profitable character of fruit 

 trees and fruit bearing plants may be 

 destroyed and all their energies diverted 

 to the production of coarse, rank shoots 

 and leaves by too liberal an application 

 of nitrogenous manures. 



