Notes and Gleajiings. ■ 311 



How TO GROW Prize Celery. — We make the following extract from an 

 article contributed to " The Gardener's Magazine " by an amateur exhibiter 

 who had been successful in obtaining the first prize for celery for many years : — 



" It is well known, that, in its natural habits, celery delights in a moist, shady 

 spot ; and it even thrives well where its roots are constantly moistened by a run- 

 ning stream overhung with brushwood. From this it might be inferred that 

 the plant was averse to the sun's influence ; but it is not so when under cultiva- 

 tion, as probably every one knows. Still the principle must not be ignored, as 

 I have proved in practice, that celery will grow much better if I shade it, if, at 

 the same time, I withhold water; while, if I give neither shading nor water, it 

 will not grow at all in hot, sunny weather. The secret, then, of growing celery, 

 is to keep it bountifully supplied with water, and it will grow, whether in sun or 

 shade. 



" Turner^s Incomparable Divarf White I choose above all others ; and my 

 preference for this variety was brought about as follows : For two successive 

 seasons I obtained the first prize with Laing's Mammoth, which I used to grow 

 to a prodigious size, and, to all appearance, very handsome. So I grew it the 

 third year, better even, according to my own notion, than before. But, this year, 

 our society changed its judges ; and one amongst them, I suppose more knowing 

 than the rest, when they came to judge the celery, actually took out his knife, 

 and divided each stick exhibited from end to end! You may judge my sur- 

 prise, when I went round after the exhibition was open, to see the first prize 

 given to a poor-looking, puny lot of Turner's Dwarf White. I sighed over what 

 I then thought an unnecessary mutilation of my fine sample; and for a time, of 

 course, 1 considered the judges a most incompetent lot. But, on reflection, I 

 was bound to acknowledge the justice of the award. My own sample, for length 

 and weight, would have more than equalled three such lots as that which had 

 gained the first honors. But, then, mine had only long, coarse, outside sticks, 

 with not a tenth part fit to send to table ; while the Dwarf White was a solid 

 mass of white in the centre of each stick, half of which was quite eatable. This 

 consideration very properly influenced the decision of the judges ; and there 

 ended my connection with large-growing celery for exhibition, 



" After my plants have been set a week, I commence what I call my summer 

 treatment ; that is, to surround them with a soil made to the consistency of a 

 thick paste by frequent doses of strong manure-water. I keep the soil in this 

 state by giving more water every time I find the surface getting a little dry. In 

 fine, drying weather, I water every morning ; in dull, damp weather, every other 

 day. But, once for all, let me say, at whatever stage the plants are in after they 

 are taken from the greenhouse, I never go to bed without damping the leaves 

 from the rose of a fine water-pot. I do this even when they are in the trenches. 

 If I give the roots a good soaking, I never consider my work done of an evening 

 until the tops have had their usual sprinkle ; for I believe the leaves of celery 

 absorb a deal of moisture during the night. Clear water is better than none : 

 but manure-water is always to be used if it can be got ; and, with plenty of that, 

 you need not fear even a tropical sun. 



" My trenches are prepared in the usual way, with about four inches of rotten 



