VEGETABLES. 



205 



manure should be freely applied to develop them to their 

 finest proportions. As the heads expand, be careful to shade 

 them from the sun by bending the leaves closely over them, 

 to exclude the light and preserve their pure white colour. 

 Should they come too early for the show, they may be pre- 

 served for a short time in a tolerably fresh state by being 

 pulled up by the roots, and hung, heads down, in a dark cool 

 place. In judging, the points of merit are : (1.) Form, which 

 should be globular and regiilar in outline; (2.) size; and 

 (3.) colour, which should be pure white. 



THE CELEKY. 



This vegetable in its best form is one of the strongest 

 articles in a collection, and as a single dish it takes first 

 rank, especially when produced, solid and crisp, in early 

 autumn, 18 inches in length of blanched stalks, and 15 inches 

 round them. "Wright's Giant White and Manchester Red are 

 excellent varieties for exhibition. Seed should be sown in 

 boxes in the middle of February, and placed in a mild hot- 

 bed, or in a pit with a night temperature of 55°. As soon as 

 they are fit to handle, they should be pricked out, about four 

 inches apart, on a gentle hotbed or in boxes, using rich friable 

 loam, and being careful never to allow the plants to become 

 dry at the root, which is exceedingly prejudicial. Towards 

 the end of April the plants should be nice stocky stuff, and 

 should be gradually exposed to the air by pulling the sashes 

 off the frame more or less daily according to the weather, 

 until they are quite hardened off, and ready for planting out 

 in the trenches. 



For growing exhibition celery, a sheltered place lying in 

 the full sun should be chosen. The ground should be well 

 drained, naturally or artificially, and the trenches prepared 

 some time before they are required. For a single row of 

 plants, the trench should be 15 inches wide and 18 inches deep, 

 removing any bad soil that may be turned up, and filling the 

 trench with one foot in depth of the following compost : one-half 

 sound turfy loam, and the other half of equal parts of well- 



