THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 263 
Storage. Provide a box with sides about a foot high 
for storing celery for winter use. Place two inches of 
sand in the bottom and wet it thoroughly. Leave on 
most of the roots and pack the bunches close together. 
The leaves should be dry when the celery is put into 
the box. Keep the sand moist by pouring water through 
holes in the sides of the box. No water should touch 
the leaves at any time. 
Diseases. For leaf spot and leaf blight, spray with 
Bordeaux mixture when the plants are young. 
Pests. For insects that eat the leaves, use hellebore ; 
for aphis and thrips, use kerosene emulsion or tobacco 
water. Pick celery borers by hand. 
THe CUCUMBER 
Varieties. The small varieties of cucumber are used 
for pickling. They are very productive and as a rule 
need less time for growth than the larger ones. The 
larger varieties are usually preferred for slicing. Special 
varieties, known as English cucumbers, are used for 
growing in hotbeds or forcing houses for winter use. 
Soil. Cucumbers need a warm, moist, rich, loamy soil ; 
sod land turned over in the fall is excellent. Thoroughly 
mix with the soil in each hill a shovelful of well-rotted 
manure. A handful of commercial fertilizer may also be 
added. Make the hill two feet in diameter. Spade to a 
depth of six or eight inches. If the soil is heavy add a 
shovelful or two of fibrous loam. 
