Celery 



shelter of mats or old lights during cold weather. From this, also, 

 there should be two or three prickings out, the first to be transferred 

 to a bit of hard ground, covered with about three inches of rich 

 mulchy stuff, in the warmest spot that can be found, and the last to 

 a similar bed on the coldest spot in the garden. In the final planting 

 the same order should be followed. The result will be a prolonged 

 supply from one sowing, and the first lot will come in early, though 

 sown late, if the plants are kept growing without a check, and receive 

 thoroughly generous culture. 



The planting out is an important matter, and each lot will 

 require separate treatment, subordinate to one general and very 

 simple plan. Celery must have rich soil, abundant moisture, and 

 must be blanched to make it fit for table. There are various ways 

 of accomplishing these ends, although they differ but slightly, and 

 common sense will guide us in the matter. For the earliest crops 

 the ground must be laid out in trenches, and these must have just as 

 much rich stable manure dug in as can be afforded. To overdo it 

 in this respect seems impossible, for Celery, like Cauliflower, will 

 grow freely in rotten manure alone, without any admixture of loam. 

 The trenches should be eighteen inches wide at bottom, ten inches 

 deep, and four feet from centre to centre, and should run north 

 and south. The plants are to be carefully lifted with a trowel, and 

 planted along the centre of the trench six to nine inches apart, 

 and should have water as planted, that there may be no check. In 

 a cold soil and a cold season the trenches may be less in depth by 

 two or three inches with advantage. If dry weather ensues, water 

 must be given ungrudgingly, but earthing up should not commence 

 until the plant has made a full and profitable growth, for the earthing 

 pretty well stops the growth, and is but a finishing process, requiring 

 from five to seven weeks to bring the crop to perfection. 



The second lot can be put out in the same way, and other plant- 

 ings may follow at discretion ; but this rule should be followed, that as 

 the season advances the trenches must be less deep, until the last lot 

 is put out upon the level. This brings us to what may be termed 

 the main crop to be grown on the bed system, which is well adapted 

 for producing a large supply with the least amount of labour, but is 

 quite unsuitable for the early crops. Celery beds are made four and 

 a half feet wide and ten inches deep, the soil which is taken out 

 being laid up in a slope round the outside of the bed, and the bank 

 thus formed may be planted with any quick crop, such as Kidney 

 Beans. The excavation must be liberally manured, and then the 



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