THE VEGETABLE GARDEN l8l 



the soil very firmly. Water enough so the soil is 

 v^et as deep as the roots go. If weather is cool or 

 damp for a few days, only one watering is necessary, 

 but if very hot and dry it may be necessary to 

 water once or twice more to insure a good start. 



" Cultivate thoroughly as soon as plants are 

 started and keep it up all the season. Do not 

 throw dirt into the hearts of the plants, when cul- 

 tivating or banking. When plants are a foot high 

 comes the first banking. Straighten up the leaves 

 with one hand and draw earth up to the plant with 

 the other. This makes the plants grow erect and fills 

 out in the heart. The banking should be repeated 

 as the plants grow, until the row is banked to a foot 

 or 15 inches high. A part of it may be left with 

 only enough banking to hold the stalks up straight. 

 This will keep longer than the fully banked and 

 blanched. 



" Now that you have the crop grown, care must 

 be taken not to spoil it in harvesting or storing. 

 The digging of the celery should be deferred until 

 the latest date possible. If it can be left till the 

 afternoon of the last warm day, when you see that 

 a sharp freeze is at hand, so much the better. With 

 a tile spade or shovel, dig under the plants so as 

 to cut off the roots i or 2 inches below the leaf 

 stalks. Pull off all the small, half-grown stalks 

 from the outside of each plant. 



*' If you have a cool cellar with an earth floor, 

 take the celery there and set it up straight, throw- 

 ing a little earth against the roots of each row as it 

 is set up. Pack rather loosely, but not so loosely as 

 to sag over on one side. The temperature should 

 be as near the freezing point as possible. If cellar 

 has a brick or cement floor, a little earth may be 

 brought in, or the celery packed in boxes in the 



