2i6 — How to Make the Garden Pay. 



should be made very rich, and be watered and ventilated freely, 

 so that the plants will grow rapidly, and be large enough to go 

 out in open ground sometime in May. 



They may be set out in single rows in same manner as will 

 be directed for the late crop, and bleached with boards, straw 

 mulch, or earthing up, boards being preferred by most growers ; 

 or they may be planted closely in a piece of ground that is made 

 excessively rich and if possible arranged for irrigation, ten inches 

 apart one way, and five inches the other, thus forcing them to 

 grow upright, and to blanch in the shade of their own foliage. 



The New Celery Culture. — The latter method has been 

 called " The new celery culture," and I confess that I think 

 highly of it, both for the early and the late crops. With the 

 former (the summer crop), you can seldom succeed except when 

 you apply liquids freely, for the immense mass of foliage that 

 grows on a comparatively small spot of ground, needs immense 

 quantities of water, and the rains of heaven, during the period of 

 rankest growth, are seldom half sufficient to support it. In the 

 home garden, where we have only a few hundred plants, or a 

 thousand at most, we may turn the washing suds and similar 

 liquids from the kitchen to good use by emptying them, and 

 barrels of water besides, into a line or lines of small tile laid six 

 or eight inches below the surface in the celery patch, or by let- 

 ting these liquids run along between the rows on the surface, 

 gradually soaking into the ground, and always causing a rapid 

 and rank growth. Such a growth, say at least two feet high, is 

 absolutely necessary in order to blanch the plants well, and make 

 them salable, without further manipulation. Usually, however, 

 I set boards up all around the patch, in order to blanch the out- 

 side plants all the better. An excellent plan, for the early crop 

 especially, is to provide a sort of half shade over the patch, by 

 setting posts at reasonable distances, over which to string poles, 

 or lattice work, or anything that will give the desired half shade. 



If the season be hot and dry, and water is not given in the 

 required quantities, the blight (should it once get into the 

 patch) will have a chance to do a great deal of damage, and per- 

 haps utterly ruin the crop unless checked by timely spraying. 



For the late crop, shading as well as watering may often 

 (partially or entirely) be dispensed with. 



Growing Plants for the Late Crop. — As early in 

 spring as practicable prepare a rich, but clean, moist, and some- 

 what protected patch of ground. Put on plenty of fine compost, 

 which should be free from weed seeds ; and fork, spade or plow 

 it into the soil. A top-dressing of composted poultry manure 

 (wood-ashes, fertilizer, or whatever is on hand and thought of 

 benefit to the land) may then be applied and mixed with the 



