Seymour^ s Superb White Celery. 91. 



hope the above proofs will induce gardeners to give the chicory a fair trial. 

 I have never talked with any traveller who has not always praised the 

 foreign salads, which every body knows are principally composed of chicory ; 

 and is it reasonable to suppose that an English gentleman will give the fo- 

 reigners great credit, and condemn the same article in England ? No, no ; it is 

 the gardener's fault. My time of sowing chicory is about the first of June, 

 either by broadcast or drills. When the plants are up, thin them to 1 ft. 

 apart, and keep the ground free from weeds ; take the roots up in November, 

 and lay them by exactly like beet roots. When the endive is over, plant 

 your chicory in 16-sized pots, five in each pot. Cover the plants over with 

 24-sized pots. Exclude all air, place them in a forcing-house or frame, 

 and each pot will afford three or four cuttings. Experience will soon 

 teach how many pots will be required. A dark mushroom-house, where a 

 fire is kept, is excellent for growing chicory, without a border made on pur- 

 pose ; a cellar is also a good place for growing the main supply for spring, but 

 it will not do to trust to a cellar for an early crop, it being too cold. I grew 

 chicory in a cellar at Dyrham Park, and the produce was immense in March 

 and April, from two to three hundred roots. I have saved the true sorts of 

 chicory, and shall have a good supply of seed for 1841. 

 Love Walk, Denmark Hill, Camberwell, Jan. 1840. 



Art. XI. On the Culture of Seymour's Superb White Celery. 

 By James Seymour. 



This celery, raised by my father in 1830, is noticed in the Gardener's Ma- 

 gazine for 1839, p. 96., where the dimensions and weight to which it has been 

 grown are mentioned. I sow the seed for the first crop in the first week in 

 February, in boxes filled with light rich loam ; the top soil being finely sifted. 

 I place them on a flue in a pine-pit, taking care that the soil does not get 

 dry. When the plants are ripe, I remove the boxes to a vinery. When the 

 plants are in rough leaf, I have them pricked into a frame, placed on a slight 

 hot-bed. As soon as they are 5 or 6 inches high, and sufficiently hardened, 

 I finally plant them out in the trenches, 9 in. apart, in a mixture of fresh 

 loam, rotten dung, and a small quantity of sheep-dung. The second crop !• 

 sow the first week in March, and treat them in a similar manner. 



I have my trenches made 2 ft. wide, 1 ft. deep, and 8 ft. apart from centre to 

 centre. They are thrown out in the autumn for my first crop ; and I then 

 occupy the ridges with hand-glass cauliflowers for my main crop. I have the 

 trenches thrown out about Christmas, and occupy the ridges with early peas, 

 from which I have had the finest crops I ever saw. The trenches! have 

 made as near a water tank as possible, that they may receive an abundant 

 supply during summer, for without this fine celery cannot be grown. 



I dug up two heads of Seymour's superb white celery on September 

 12. 1839, which weighed, when dressed for table, 4ilb. Two heads, on the 

 19th of November, 4 J lb., ready dressed. By superior cultivation it has been 

 grown much finer than I have grown it. Mr. J. Kingston, mentioned in your 

 vol. for 1839, p. 96., has grown it, averaging the weight of each head, and 

 taking two rows of 24 yds. in length each row, from 9 lb. to 10 lb. after the 

 soil and outside leaves have been taken off. Mr. G. Seymour (a cousin of 

 mine) has grown it rather larger, the plants in both cases being received direct 

 from my father. 



One great advantage of growing this celery is, that it is never hollow in the 

 leaf-stalk, and is less liable to run than any other I have heard of. Last year, 

 out of two rows, each 30 yds. long, planted from the first sowing, I had but 

 three plants run. The red sort does not stand so well as the white for an 

 early crop, but much better for a late one ; it being more hardy and equally 

 fine in flavour. 



