74 HORTICULTURE BY IRRIGATION. 



of soil around the base of the plant, or the plant tied together low down, 

 is about all it needs to blanch it ; even then only the heart of it is fit for. 

 use. Have never tried its keeping qualities. 



Henderson's Half Dwarf is little used at present and Red Celery not 

 at all, as there is no demand for it. Celeriac, or root celery, is grown in a 

 small way by a few gardeners. 



Seed sowing should be done in this latitude about April 1st, in a cold 

 frame or out of doors, in a damp place. If sown much earlier many of 

 the plants will go to seed ; if allowed to suffer for want of water they will 

 also throw up seed shoots. The soil of the seed bed should be rich and 

 made very fine, as celery is very slow in sprouting. 



Sow thinly in drills two and a half inches apart (if in frame), cover 

 one-fourth of an inch deep; water with a fine rose watering pot, and 

 never allow to get dry until the plants are up, which will be in about 

 three weeks. To save much watering, it is well to cover the ground with 

 burlap sacks or material of that kind, removing them when the plants 

 appear. If glass is used, shade it from the hot sunshine. If sown out of 

 doors, it should be where they will not suffer for moisture. Drill in 

 rows a foot apart, so they can be cultivated and hoed; or, the seed may be 

 drilled in where the plants are to remain, being afterwards thinned to the 

 required distance. This plan saves some work in transplanting. If the 

 seed was sown carefully in the seed bed, the plants will need no thinning. 

 With good seed, four to an inch will be about right. One ounce of seed 

 should sow a bed of eight square yards; two ounces will give plants 

 enough for an acre of celery. When about two inches high, if found to be 

 too thick, they should be thinned to the required distance, being an inch 

 apart, if it is not designed to transplant them before permanent setting; 

 if to be transplanted later into another bed, then about four to the inch. 

 When about four inches high, cut the tops off about midway, and, if in- 

 clined to grow long and spindling, cut them off once or twice again. 

 About the 1st of June, if the plants have been left thick in the seed bed, 

 they should be transplanted into another similar bed, about three inches 

 between plants each way, well watered and shaded for a few days, until 

 they have started to grow. If the plants were thinned in the seed bed, 

 when small, to an inch or more apart, transplanting will be unnecessary. 

 About a month before it is time to take up, draw a knife along the row, 

 so as to cut off the tap root about two inches below the surface. Give the 

 plants a good dusting of bone dust, which the water will wash down to the 



