236 Review of the Horticultural Register. 



weighed forty-five pounds collectively. It is an humiliating reflection, that 

 such devsciibed celery was grown hy a paper-maker and not hy a Gardener, 

 AVhilf^t tlie culture ot" Celery at Manchester has attained such an high state 

 of pt rleclioM, is it not amazing, that throughout a great ])artof the kingdom, 

 roots weighing from two to three pounds, and otiierwi.se defective, should 

 obtain first prizes at the numerous Horticultural Exhibitions? Do not such 

 ]»!ain truths indubitably prove a general inertness, or inaptitude for improve- 

 ment in Horticulture, as contrasted with other sciences? From whence these 

 interrogatories are extracted, others succeed, which might by possibility lead 

 to distuissiou irrelevant to this subject, and are consequently withheld. 



"In growing Celery, many gardeners, vviih a laudable but misplaced zeal of 

 surpassing their contempoiaries, use a proiiision ot" dung, almost without any 

 admixture of soil, in their seed Boxes, in their plant borders, and in their 

 Trenches, to which they add \u\u\d manure at repeated intervals ; and in 

 such cases commonly find their produce of siunied givivth, of an acrid taste, 

 and ligamentous tenacity. Thesi; observations are not made as wholly con- 

 demnatory of the use of dung in growing Celery, but to expose the fallacy 

 of s'.icii unlimited profusion ; for will sized and superior flavoiu'ed Celery 

 may certainly be obt-iined without the aid of dung or other tillage, in situa- 

 tions where good bog-soil can be procured, — for instance, say, the top spit 

 of a good j)asture." 



The seedlings are raised in tite usual inanner and transplanted into 

 seed beds ; the following are the writer's concluding; remarks ; they 

 are so valuable, we extract thein entire without further comment : — 



" To produce Celery of good quality, very large, fine and clean grown, 

 there are several i)articular essentials, different in some res|)ects to any which 

 have hitherto been promulgated, necessary to be attended to and adopted hy 

 those Gardeners who are anxious to rival, or excel the justly famed Lanca- 

 shire growers. 



"First, let a compost be prepared in the beginning of winter, and where 

 practicable, let it consist of two-thirds good bog-soil, and one third well de- 

 composed dung from an old hot bed ; or in case the bog-soil be poor, let the 

 quantities be equal : let them be thrown up together, twice ttu-ned over and 

 thoroughly incorporated, and at the last turning over, shortly before filling 

 the trenches therewith, in neighborhoods where good fertilizing magnesiun 

 lime can be procured, add fi'om one to two bushels thereof to a cart load of 

 compost ; this will cause an ammonia to be given forth highly conducive to 

 the rapid growth of the plants. Bog-soil is recommended in preference to 

 every other, on account of its peculiar retention of moisture, as well as the 

 facile nature of its composition, being adapted to receive and nourish the 

 delicate and midtitudinous fibres. In situations where bog-soil, or ))eat 

 cannot be readily procured, let the sods of a grass sward, together with a 

 ])ortiun of leaf moidd, supply its place, to which add one-third part of duny. 



"Secondly, in order to grow Celery very large, it is indispensably necessary 

 to abstain from and avoid those constant soilings or earthings up, which have 

 been frequently recommended in the Register, and reiterated from various 

 parts of the kingdom, and which are also in almost universal practice. This 

 bold innovation'on general manitgement, 1 am aware, is calculated to excite 

 the ire of many experienced gardeners, and to array against me a host of 

 captious correspondents ; yet no gauntlet is thrown, neither will there he 

 any sluinking from temperate discussion. It will be asked, are we to cease 

 blanching? Are we to grow Celery as stray and wild as a solitary Fern on 

 inaccessible rocks ?^ To such, and all synonymous questions, the most ileci- 

 ded negative is given. The process of blanching, whilst the plants are in a 

 vigorous state of growth, n;ay be accomplished in three weeks, but when it 

 has nearly ceased to grow, it will require a longer time for blanching ; and, 

 therefore, win n time or circumstances require, let it be earthed up from 

 twenty-eight to thirty-eight inches high at one time, taking care tb» pln'^*-? 



