244 THE HOME ACRE. 



remember the advice of the old farmer to his son. 

 He said, " Stub your toe and spill half the seed 

 before sowing it ; for scattered broadcast it is usu- 

 ally much too thick." If this proves true, thin out 

 the plants rigorously. This turnip is good for table 

 and stock as long as it is solid and crisp ; but it 

 grows pithy towards spring. There are other kinds 

 well worth a trial. 



Perhaps no vegetable is more generally appreci- 

 ated than celery. Like asparagus, it was once, and 

 is still by some, regarded as a luxury requiring too 

 much skill and labor for the ordinary gardener. 

 This is a mistake. Few vegetables in my garden 

 repay so amply the cost of production. One can 

 raise turnips as a fall crop much easier, it is true ; 

 but turnips are not celery, any more than brass is 

 gold. Think of enjoying this delicious vegetable 

 daily from October till April ! When cooked, and 

 served on toast with drawn butter sauce, it is quite 

 ambrosial. In every garden evolved beyond the 

 cabbage and potato phase a goodly space of the 

 best soil should be reserved for celery, since it can 

 be set out from the first to the twentieth of July 

 in our latitude ; it can be grown as the most valu- 

 able of the second crops, re-occupying space made 

 vacant by early crops. I find it much easier to 

 buy my plants, when ready for them, than to raise 

 them. In every town there are those who grow 



