248 THE HOME ACRE. 



ground is fresh and moist. If the row is ten feet 

 long, you will want twenty plants ; if fifteen, thirty 

 plants ; or two plants to every foot of row. Having 

 set out one row, move the line forward three feet, 

 and prepare and set out another row in precisely 

 the same manner. Continue this process until the 

 plot selected is occupied. If the plants have been 

 grown in your own garden, much is gained by 

 soaking the ground round them in the evening, 

 and removing them to the rows in the cool of the 

 morning. This abundant moisture will cause the 

 soil to cling to the roots if handled gently, and 

 the plants will . scarcely know that they have been 

 moved. When setting I usually trim off the 

 greater part of the foliage. When all the leaves 

 are left, the roots, not established, cannot keep 

 pace with the evaporation. Always keep the roots 

 moist and unshrivelled, and the heart intact, and 

 the plants are safe. If no rain follows setting 

 immediately, water the plants thoroughly, don't 

 be satisfied with a mere sprinkling of the surface, 

 and shade from the hot sun until the plants 

 start to grow. One of the chief requisites in 

 putting out a celery plant, and indeed almost any 

 plant, is to press the soil firmly round, against, 

 and over the roots. This excludes the air, and the 

 new rootlets form rapidly. Neither bury the heart 

 nor leave any part of the root exposed. 



