CELERY. 



CELERY. 



low upright, and the solid-stalked (red and 

 white). The red is reared chiefly for soups, 

 the white being much more delicate in flavour. 

 It is propagated by seed. The first sowing 

 should be performed either in a hotbed or on a 

 warm, light border, towards the end of Febru- 

 ary; some gardeners even insert it as early as 

 the middle of January. The border is by many 

 gardeners considered the best situation, inas- 

 much as the plants are more hardy, and with 

 proper care come forward with scarcely any 

 difference as to time. This is to be repeated 

 in March; but the principal sowings must take 

 place in April and May, and the last one in 

 June. As the produce of the early sowings 

 will not continue long in a state fit for use, 

 from their leaf-stalks becoming piped or hol- 

 low, they must be proportionably small ; they 

 must all be inserted broadcast, and the seed 

 scattered thinly. The seed-beds of the early 

 sowings should be light and dry, with the full 

 enjoyment of the sun throughout the day, but 

 for the three last in a moist situation ; and it 

 is advantageous for them to have a free ex- 

 posure to the morning sun only, yet free from 

 the drip of trees ; so advantageous is it to have 

 the plants of these sowings as luxuriant as pos- 

 sible in their first stage of growth, that to afford 

 them as regular and unstinted a supply of nou- 

 rishment as possible, the mould of the seed-bed 

 is often formed artificially. Mr. Walker, gar- 

 dener to J. Walker, Esq., of Longford, Scotland, 

 recommends it to be formed of black loamy 

 soil and old hotbed dung in equal parts. (Mem. 

 Caled. Hort. Soc. vol. ii. p. 295.) The plants 

 from these several sowings will in general be 

 ready for pricking out in four or six weeks 

 from the time of insertion, and for final plant- 

 ing after a further continued growth of two 

 months. A more determinate datum for judg- 

 ing the appropriate time for performing these 

 operations is the size of the plants, they being 

 fit for the first removal when three or four 

 inches in height, and for the second when 

 seven or eight. From the above enumerated 

 sowings, monthly plantings may be succession- 

 ally made from the commencement of June un- 

 til September closes ; but for the supply of a 

 family, a sowing at the close of February for 

 production during the same year, and another 

 about the middle of May, to yield a produce in 

 the winter and the following spring, will in 

 general be amply sufficient. 



They are usually planted out finally in 

 trenches, from twelve to eighteen inches wide, 

 and at least four feet apart. To cut the trench 

 straight and with firm sides, the spade should 

 be thrust down all along the line which marks 

 the boundary on each side, previous to digging 

 out the earth : the top spit of mould through- 

 out the length must be turned alternately on 

 either side, for this is required in the after cul- 

 tivation for earthing up the plants. Some well 

 putrefied dung, two or three inches thick, must 

 be then spread along the bottom and dug in, 

 care being taken that its surface is not more 

 than four inches below the regular surface of 



te soil. Mr. Walker here recommends the 

 me unsparing application of manure; he 

 forms the soil in his trenches of three parts 

 dung and one part fresh, strong soil. (Mem. 

 306 



Calcil. Hort. Soc. vol. ii. p. 296.) By this abun- 

 dant application of manure his celery un- 

 doubtedly obtains a fine growth, being often 

 4$ feet long, and averaging 6 Ibs. weight ; but 

 at the same time it is to be remarked, that 

 many soils will grow it equally fine without 

 such immoderate application. 



Celery, as before mentioned, delights in a 

 soil abounding in fertilizing matter; the mode 

 adopted to effect this, as practised by Mr. Judd, 

 gardener to C. Campbell, Esq., of Edmonton, is 

 one which with equal advantage may be adopt- 

 ed for any crop requiring a very rich soil ; he 

 prepares his ground in the winter preceding 

 the time of planting, or as long before as con- 

 venient, by manuring and trenching it two 

 spades deep, performing this last operation 

 twice, that the dung may be better incorporated 

 with the soil, and then leaves it as rough as 

 possible until the time arrives for forming the 

 trenches, at the bottom of which he also turns 

 in some manure. (Trans. Hort. Soc. Loud. vol. 

 iii. p. 46.) As celery is very apt to decay in 

 winter on account of excessive moisture, it 

 would undoubtedly be a good practice, after 

 preparing the ground as just detailed, to plant 

 in rows five or six feet apart on the surface, 

 taking the mould required for earthing them 

 up from this allotted space. 



Before, planting, the long straggling leaves 

 are to be cut away, and any side offsets re- 

 moved ; but if the plants are older or larger in 

 growth than before mentioned, the tops of the 

 leaves may be generally removed, which serves 

 to check their running to seed, which they are 

 otherwise apt to do. After this preparation, 

 they may be planted, a single row in each 

 trench, about eighteen inches apart. Mr. Judd 

 says that he finds the plants much injured in. 

 their future growth if, during any of their re- 

 movals, their roots become at all dry; there- 

 fore, when taking them either from the seed- 

 bed or for final planting, he lays them, as he 

 draws them from the ground, in a garden pan. 

 containing a little water. (Ibid. p. 45.) Plant- 

 ing is best performed in the evening, and water 

 should be given plenteously at the time, as well 

 as every other day subsequently until they are 

 well established. Earthing them up must com- 

 mence when they are about a foot high, and 

 may be continued until the plants are fit for 

 use, or are one foot and a half high and up- 

 wards. In performing it one person must hold 

 the bases of the plants together, whilst a second 

 regularly follows and throws in the soil, other- 

 wise the mould separating the leaves breaks 

 them and induces decay, and ofttimes destroys 

 them by injuring the heart. (Ibid. p. 47.) 



The earthing is best performed gradually, a 

 few inches being added once a week, and a dry 

 day always selected to perform it in. In very 

 severe weather the winter standing crops should 

 be covered with straw or other litter, care being 

 i taken always to remove it in mild days. 'On 

 the arrival of frost a quantity may be taken up 

 and buried in sand under shelter. As celery 

 will not continue in perfection except in winter 

 more than three or four weeks after bleaching, 

 it is advisable for family use only to make 

 small plantations of the*early crops at a time. 

 To raise seed, some plants must be left where 



