IRRIGATION OF THE GARDEN. 253 



advisable to hoe the soil gradually up to form a 

 ridge two feet wide over the plants, thus leaving a fur- 

 row of equal width between the ridges. In this way 

 the roots of the plants are covered by a great depth of 

 soil, and as the surface of the ridge to the depth of 

 twelve inches is loose and dry, no attempt is made by 

 the roots to push their way upward. When the young 

 shoots start to grow they have to push through a con- 

 siderable space of loose soil on the ridges, and they can 

 be cut at a point seven or eight inches below the sur- 

 face as soon as the tips appear above ground and be- 

 fore they begin to get green. Asparagus is rather 

 partial to water, and irrigation may go on every ten 

 days or two weeks during the cutting season, wiiile 

 once a month thereafter will suffice. 



Celery. — The writer never had knowledge of a 

 garden crop that needs more water than does celery. 

 It does best in a soil that is naturally moist and is sup- 

 plied with an abundance of vegetable matter. The 

 market gardener generally raises two crops of celery — 

 early and late. The early crop is usually disposed of 

 during the late summer and fall months, while a late 

 crop is stored for winter and spring use. For an 

 early crop the seed is sown about the first of March in 

 a moderate hotbed, in drills two inches apart. The soil 

 should be made very rich and the bed well watered, to 

 give the plants a good start. 



When the plants have grown to a fair size, they are 

 usually transplanted into a cold frame. However, this 

 pradlice of transplanting celery is rapidly disappearing. 

 Experience has proven beyond a doubt that celery so 

 treated will produce a larger per cent, of plants that go 



