58 GARDENING FOE YOUNG AND OLD. 



ber this, as it is very important. A dry surface, if the 

 soil is loose and fine, is a good thing, provided there is 

 sufficient moisture in the soil below, around the roots. 



As the celery grows, keep the ground well cultivated 

 and hoed; and this is all that need be done until the 

 plants have nearly attained their growth. The earth is 

 then drawn round the plants in order to blanch the 

 stalks. You will soon learn how to do this. It is neces- 

 sary to gather up the loose and straggling stalks, and 

 press the whole plant firmly together with the hand in 

 order to prevent the soil falling into the center or 

 " heart" of the plant between the stalks. Draw the soil 

 around the plant, fully up to the lower leaves, and if the 

 weather is fine and the plants continue to grow, earth 

 them up again. 



^STORING FOR WINTER. 



There are several plans for keeping celery during the 

 winter. My own method is to dig a trench in dry, 

 sandy land, a foot wide, and deep enough to hold the 

 plants. In this set the plants upright, just as they grew, 

 only putting them close together crosswise of the trench. 

 The more soil there is left adhering to the roots the bet- 

 ter. It is also desirable and certainly much more pleasant, 

 to do the work when the soil and plants are dry. But 

 as we wish to let the celery keep on growing as long as 

 the weather will allow, it is not always that we can 

 find a pleasant day so late in the season in which to se- 

 cure our celery crop. We have to do the best we can. 

 As before said, it is desirable to put up the plants when 

 dry, but if the work is not done until just before winter 

 is about to set in, there is not much danger that the 

 celery will mould, no matter how wet it is when put in 

 the trench. 



My plan is, to plow the earth away from the rows of 



