74 VEGETABLE GROWING. 



quality as would not compete with the Northern - 

 grown article. 



SEED- SO WING. 



The seed is sown in July or August, preferably in a 

 cold frame or in a plant-bed, where the young plants 

 can be watered easily and protected from the hot sun. 

 If the plant-bed or cold frame has been used before, 

 new fertilizer must be added before the seed is sown. 

 If a new plant-bed has to be made, follow the direc- 

 tions given for the preparation of these on a former 

 page. Put a considerable emphasis on the use of 

 plenty of fertilizer ; a pound of the formula given 

 may be used to every six square feet as a fair allow- 

 ance. Do not put the bed near trees to secure shade 

 from them ; they will exhaust the soil before the 

 plants are ready to be transplanted. 



When the bed is level and smooth, use a six or 

 eight inch board to mark off the rows. Lay the board 

 down and mark along one side with a dibber, make 

 the drill about half an inch deep and sow the seed in 

 it ; turn the board over and make a second drill, and 

 sow this, and so on until the bed is sown. The seed 

 should be scattered thinly, about four to the inch. 

 The plants should be thinned to about an inch apart, 

 when the leaves begin to form. Care should be exer- 

 cised to keep the weeds out by cultivating and weed- 

 ing. 



A celery bed should be cultivated at least every 

 week, and while the weeds are still in the seed leaves, 

 they should be weeded out. If the plants tend to be- 

 come spindly, shear the tops off and the leaves will 

 grow stocky. The leaves that were sheared off would 

 have been lost any way. Crowding the plants in the 

 row makes them send out a strong down growing root 

 that might be called a tap-root. If the plants are not 



