242 VEGETABLE GARDENING 



plan at the first transplanting to make up a special bed for 

 them. This should be done as follows: A place four feet 

 wide and of any length should be selected, the top soil to 

 the depth of about three inches thrown off, and then rotten 

 manure such as that which comes from spent hotbeds or 

 similar material put in to the depth of about three inches. 

 The top soil should then be returned and the plants set 

 out in it. Treated in this way the young plants will 

 develop a compact root system in the manure, and may be 

 transplanted with a ball of roots almost as well as if they 

 had been grown in pots. Plants grown in this way are 

 especially desirable when transplanting must be done in a 

 dry time, but seedbeds require much water. 



Planting. Having good plants, the next thing is to 

 set them so as to get a good crop. It is quite a common 

 practice in some sections to grow celery as a second crop 

 after early peas, lettuce, cabbage, or beets. In such a 

 case the plants, perhaps, had better not be set out until the 

 first crop has been gathered ; but where only one crop is to 

 be grown, the plants may be set as soon as big enough. 

 This will generally be from the middle to the latter part of 

 June and, for latest use, the latter part of July. 



The land should be thoroughly plowed, harrowed and 

 smoothed off/ Furrows six inches deep should then be 

 made where the plants are to go, and in these about three 

 inches of fine, well-rotted manure or compost should be 

 placed. This manure should be thoroughly mixed with the 

 soil and the furrow nearly filled. For mixing the manure 

 and soil perhaps there is no better implement than a one- 

 horse cultivator with the teeth set close together. If the 

 land is unusually rich in plant food, there is no need of 

 going to this trouble, but the plants may be set right 

 after the marker. In any case the rows should be four or 



