April 4, 1894.] 



Garden and Forest. 



137 



the properties of Mrs. Fisher. This variety with Nicholson and 

 William Scott we shall try this year, and hope one of the trio 

 will prove a success. They seem to be rust-proof so far, 

 which is more than can be said for some other novelties. 

 Hector, Mrs. Fisher and Nobscot have shown no signs of dis- 

 ease. Ferdinand Mangold as a crimson was not a success, 

 but we purpose giving it a further trial ; it appears to be rust- 

 proof. 



A good pink variety for outdoor blooming is what we most 

 desire to find at present, one that will bloom as freely as Mrs. 

 Fisher, Hector and Nobscot. No doubt, a yellow and crimson 

 will turn up in due course, and it will then be possible for any 

 one to have fine Carnations grown in the open air for three 

 months in the year. . 



Taunton, Mass. W. N. Craig. 



Celery Culture. 



AT a meeting of the Michigan State Horticultural Society, 

 J~\_ Professor W. W. Tracy delivered an off-hand address 

 on "Celery Culture," in which he stated, at the outset, that 

 any farmer in Michigan who fully understood and carefully 

 attended to the character and wants of the plants could 

 raise in his home-garden better celery than can generally 

 be bought in the market. This special knowledge is at the 

 base of all successful garden practice, being generally a 

 more important factor than any natural advantage, and 

 Professor Tracy went on to say : 



There is nothing in the soil and climate of Long Island 

 which gives it any superiority for the cultivation of flowering 

 bulbs, but the Long Island growers produce better and cheaper 

 bulbs than others, because they understand their plants. The 

 profits of Onion-growing about Painesville, Ohio, is due in the 

 same way, not to the soil, but to a perfect knowledge of the 

 character and wants of the plants. Certain grades of Celery 

 can be produced more cheaply on the muck lands of Kala- 

 mazoo, but Celery of the finest quality can be grown on al- 

 most every farm in Michigan. 



Yesterday we took out some celery on our trial-grounds. 

 Many of the stalks were eighteen inches long, many an inch 

 in diameter, and so brittle that I could and did take a stalk by 

 each end, and by a quick move of the hands, in opposite direc- 

 tions, snap a piece out of the centre, whose ends were as 

 square as if they had been cut by a knife. Those who used 

 it say they don't care to eat any that they can buy, after hav- 

 ing this. And yet, this was grown on a clay soil that, six years 

 ago, would make brick ; and if Celery can be grown oh that, 

 perhaps as poor a soil for its growth as can easily be found, 

 every Michigan farmer ought to grow it. They certainly can, 

 if they know how; and to know how they must study the 

 plant. 



Every flavor or scent, if intensified sufficiently, becomes dis- 

 agreeable. Thus the intense flavor of the green portion of 

 the celery is disagreeable, bitter, and in some degree poison- 

 ous. When any vegetable growth is made rapidly, and in the 

 dark, it becomes white, and its natural flavor is lessened, made 

 more mild ; and in such cases as the leek, endive and celery, 

 made much more agreeable. 



Again, crispness, succulency and tenderness in vegetables 

 are developed in proportion to the rapidity of growth. What 

 we need, then, to produce well-flavored, crisp, succulent, ten- 

 der celery is a rapid growth in the dark. How can we do this ? 

 Celery is a very peculiar plant in its habit of growth. If we plant 

 an ounce of Celery seed under favorable conditions, it will be 

 nicely up in thirty days, and if we wash the little plants clean 

 of earth they altogether will weigh from five to twenty ounces, 

 an increase of from five to twenty fold in the first thirty 

 days. 



Now, plant an ounce of any of the quick-growing Radishes, 

 under equally favorable circumstances, and in thirty days they 

 will be fit to market, and the 3,500 roots produced, if every seed 

 makes a plant, will weigh from 2,000 to 4,000 ounces, an in- 

 crease in the first thirty days of from 2,000 to 4,000 fold, against 

 the Celery's increase of from five to twenty fold. This shows 

 how slowly the Celery-plant grows at first. But, with every 

 succeeding month, not only the actual growth, but the rate of 

 growth, increases until, as it approaches maturity, it is, per- 

 haps, the most rapidly growing plant in the garden. But you 

 all know that growth necessitates food, and in this fact we find 

 a reason for our plant's action ; for, during the slower-grow- 

 ing, earlier periods, the plant was not only extending its root- 

 surface and putting itself in position to collect enormous 

 quantities of food from the soil, but was also storing in the 

 roots and the thickened collar at the base of the leaves an 



extra supply of food to be used on demand. We see how the 

 life-plan of the plant fits with our purpose of securing a rapid 

 growth in the dark. We simply wait until it is prepared to 

 grow most rapidly, and then gather and hold the leaves up so 

 closely as to shut out the light and keep the growing leaves 

 of the centre in the dark, and our object is accomplished. This 

 we do by first drawing the leaves into an upright position and 

 holding them there with earth. Then, drawing them still 

 closer and banking them with more earth, until we have com- 

 pletely shut out the light from the now rapidly growing centre, 

 we secure the white, crisp, tender central leaves which are so 

 delicious. 



It is a mistake to think that eaithing-up turns the leaf-stems 

 which we earth-up white, and makes them crisp. It does not. 

 It only makes those that grow after we earth-up white and 

 crisp, and you can thus see how useless it is to expect good 

 celery from slow-growing plants. 



But, to have quick growth, we must have abundant food in 

 the soil, abundant water to dissolve this food, and abundant 

 roots and vitality to convey it into the plant. The golden rules, 

 then, for growing fine celery are : 



1. Secure strong plants, by protecting the weak and slow- 

 growing seedlings from injury from overcrowding or from 

 more rapid-growing weeds. 



2. Set the plants in soil which is as rich as it can possibly be 

 made. The best rule for it is that for making the mince-pies 

 we used to dream over at Thanksgiving-time — make them as 

 rich as you can afford, and then shut your eyes and drop in 

 two handfuls more. 



3. Bank up and give plenty of water when the plants are in 

 their greatest rapidity of growth. 



Correspondence. 



Earth-worms in Flower-pots. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — I have a Fuchsia and a small Hydrangea in pots, 

 which have looked fairly well during the winter, but they are 

 now gradually losing their leaves. A friend suggested that earth- 

 worms might be eating the roots, so I have transplanted them 

 and find a dozen or fifteen worms in each pot. Is it true that 

 these worms eat the roots or injure the plants in any way ? 



Boston, Mass. K. L. 



[As a rule we should look upon earth-worms as useful 

 creatures and their work as of real service to tillers of the 

 soil. They are continually renewing the surface-soil with 

 finely pulverized earth brought up from below, and their 

 burrows allow freer access of moisture and air. They are, 

 in fact, true subsoilers, and we may get a good idea of the 

 important part they play on the earth's surface by reading 

 Darwin's Vegetable Mold and Earth-worms. 



The action of worms also tends to hasten the decay of 

 vegetable and other remains in the soil, and so to prepare 

 them for assimilation as plant-food. But when very nu- 

 merous they are often troublesome, especially on small 

 areas, as in flower-beds and in flower boxes and pots. Too 

 numerous holes allow access of too much air to the roots ; 

 the tender roots themselves are disturbed and, perhaps, 

 destroyed by the worms ; and as it is known that the cast- 

 ings or excretions of worms are charged with certain acids, 

 these may have an injurious effect when too abundant. 



It is the habit of worms to come to the surface in the 

 evening, and if the soil is well-watered and the previously 

 darkened plants are quickly examined by light the worms 

 may be found and caught on the surface. Watering the 

 soil with strong lime-water is said to drive them out, and 

 a weak solution of ammonia or of smelling-salts will bring 

 them to the surface, when they may be easily caught. 

 Strong tobacco-water would probably answer the same 

 purpose. 



If care was taken to subject potting-soil to strong heat 

 before using, or to treat it with boiling water, all worms 

 and other insects and their eggs would be destroyed and 

 there would be no trouble from them. Where only a few 

 plants in pots are affected it would be a simple matter to 

 repot them with fresh soil which had been previously 

 thoroughly heated in the oven, or scalded with water and 

 allowed to drain. — Ed.] 



