74 Southern Gardener^ s Practical Manual 



Celery requires, in its early and late stages of growth, 

 a cool, moist atmosphere, and hence is intolerant of heat 

 and drought. The seed need not be sown under glass in 

 our southern climate, plants much better in every respect 

 being grown in the open ground. A special bed maj^ be 

 prepared for it in April and the seed sown in drills ten 

 or twelve inches apart, or the seed may be sown in drills 

 where the plants are to remain permanently, the surplus 

 being transplanted to flats or beds, where they should be 

 placed in rows six inches apart and three inches in 

 the drill. The soil in which the seed is sown must 

 be a rich loam, which has been made rich by heavy appli- 

 cation of manure to crops previously grown upon it or 

 made fertile by liberal applications of thoroughly rotted 

 manure. The seeds, are extremely small, and germinate 

 slowly even under favorable conditions. After the seed- 

 bed has been deeply prepared and very thoroughly pulver- 

 ized by careful raking, mark off very shallow trenches 

 one foot apart, sow the seed thinly in these trenches, 

 and cover lightly with thoroughly sifted rich loam or 

 woods mold. The seed, being very small, must not be 

 too deeply covered. The germination may be hastened 

 by packing the soil oyer the seed immediately after sow- 

 ing by means of a smooth board six inches wide by six 

 feet long. A corn-stalk laid on each side of the drill but 

 not immediately over it, will retain sufficient moisture to 

 insure the germination of the seed. If the weather is very 

 dry before the plants appear, the soil may be watered from 

 the fine rose of the watering-pot, but I prefer retaining 

 the moisture without surface watering. If the seed is 

 sown in the permanent row, treat in the same way, but 



