28 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



August, 1910 



Blanching Celery 



THE careful, persistent gardener is now reaping 

 his harvest of corn, hmas, celery, tomatoes, 

 egg plant, peppers, etc. Something different may 

 be had for every day in the weel^,^ But because 

 of these results, do not rest. The weeds must be 

 kept down. 



Early celery should be ready for blanching. 

 Some gardeners earth up the plants, but I have 

 found it causes decay at this season, particularly 

 if a heavy rain follows the hilling-up process. 

 Boards are easy to put in place and are cheaper 

 than hilling with dirt, because they can be used 

 continuously and shifted from one part of the row 

 to another. Take two 12-inch boards, place them 

 against the celery and as close together as pos- 

 sible without cracking the stalks, and drive a few 

 stakes down into the ground on the outside to 

 keep the boards in position. This will give a well- 

 blanched heart. If you wish to blanch the entire 

 plant, have the side boards come up high enough to 

 support . another board across the top. This will 

 exclude the light and blanch the entire plant. When 

 I do this, however, I find that the outer stalks are 

 invariably tough and stringy, caused by the plants 

 growing during warm weather. 



With late celery it is quite diiferent; the entire 

 plant can be blanched and all be of good quality. 

 Hilling up must be attended to with regularity; 

 this time, however, it must be done often and well, 

 for more celery is ruined by poor, indifferent hilling 

 than by any other cause. The idea in hilling 

 celery is that the soil should be kept drawn up to 

 the plant as it grows, but none must fall into the 

 heart or between the stalks of the celery. The 

 first process is to take a digging fork and loosen up 

 the soil on each side of the row. Then remove any 

 suckers or shoots that appear between the stalks, 

 grasp the plant with one hand and hold it tight so 

 that the stalks are close together. This will pre- 

 vent soil from getting in the heart or between the 

 stalks. Draw some soil up to the plant and press 

 it firmly against the stalks, using your fist or a 

 brick. Be careful that you do not scratch the stalk 

 in any way; scratches make dark, rusty spots on 

 the stalks and can be easily avoided with a little care. 

 Also keep any stones from coming in contact with 

 the stalks, as they will also scratch. Never hill 

 your celery when it is wet, or in the morning when 

 the dew is still on the plants, as the moisture will 

 soon start decay. 



Keep celery well watered at all times. Lack of 

 water makes strings; good quick growth makes 

 celery that cracks in one's hand "like a pipe stem." 



Two crops at once. Save space and labor by 

 planting lettuce between the rows of celery 



An occasional watering with liquid manure will 

 keep the plants growing fast. , Use a half-bushel of 

 manure (cow manure is preferable) to a barrel of 

 water, letting it stand for forty-eight hours before 

 using. Then thin it down to about one half 

 strength. A dose of nitrate of soda is also bene- 

 ficial. Use a 6-inch flower pot of soda to a barrel 

 of water, and apply as soon as dissolved. 



SEEDS FOR PRESENT SOWING 



Sow bush beans twice during the month — 

 once on the first, and again on the jsth. Put in 

 several rows at each sowing, and place the rows 

 about fifteen inches apart, so that it will be easy 

 to protect them from the frost later on, for which 

 purpose start collecting now all old iDurlap and 

 covering material. 



Make the final sowings of beets and carrots about 

 August ist to loth, for a winter supply. Be sure 

 you put in enough seed. I have found that by 

 sowing at this time the vegetables are of good size 

 and excellent quality when harvested. I use Guer- 

 ande carrot and Eclipse beet, but any of the good 

 standard varieties will be satisfactory. 



Sow endive and lettuce twice during the month. 

 Keep setting out the young plants from the seed 

 beds, and do not let them suffer for water. Put 

 them in between the celery rows. Make two sow- 

 ings of turnip and kohlrabi, if you care for these 

 vegetables. The former is excellent for soup mak- 

 ing, and the latter is a good spring and fall 

 vegetable. 



Sow peas twice during the month, using the early 

 varieties, such as Nott's Excelsior or New York 

 Market. Keep them well watered and watch out 

 for aphis. If it appears, spray with a good stan- 

 dard tobacco preparation. Directions for use 

 always accompany such preparations. 



Start sowing spinach now for a fall crop. I 

 always sow spinach when I sow peas, putting the 

 rows of peas three feet apart and planting the spinach 

 in between the rows of peas. Both these crops are 

 spring and fall crops, and grow well together. 



DO YOU KNOW A RIPE WATERMELON? 



In order to determine this (for watermelons do 

 not leave the vines when ripe, as do muskmelons), 

 select one of the largest melons, place both hands 

 on the top and dress downward. Do not place 

 the weight of your body on it, but give a quick, 

 down-ward pressure. If the melon crunches it is 

 ripe and ready for eating. 



If the tops of the onions have turned yellow, 

 pull them up and lay them on their sides in rows, 

 so that the sun can dry them out a trifle. Leave 

 them so for several days Before storing, twist 

 the tops off by holding the top in one hand close 

 to the bulb and twisting the bulb with the other 

 hand. Store in a cool, dry place and look over them 

 occasionally to prevent growth from starting and 

 to remove any that may have decayed. 



Keep the winter root crops, such as parsnips, 

 salsify, rutabaga, carrots, beets, etc., well watered. 

 Growth should be kept up for at least this month; 

 after that, parsnips and salsify will have practically 

 stopped growing and rutabagas, carrots, etc., will 

 grow in September whether the weather is dry 

 or not. 



Blight in the garden should still be watched for, 

 and spraying should be continued regularly during 

 August. After this month blight will not be very 

 troublesome. Use Bordeaux mixture and spray 

 every ten days to two weeks. 



Watch eggplants for potato bugs. I always 

 pick them off, for I am rather timid about using 

 poison on anything but root crops when the vegetables 

 are about ripe and ready for use. 



MAKING A MANURE PIT 



Now is the time to think about building an annex 

 to your garden in the form of a manure pit. All 

 amateur gardeners know how valuable good man- 

 ure is, and how difficult it is to procure. The 

 scheme I am about to propose would not do for the 

 gardener who is confined to a small plot of ground, 

 but for places of two or more acres it is certainly 

 practical, and would justify the outlay. The advan- 

 tage of a manure pit to any place is increased by 

 the addition of a few pigs, who do much toward 

 improving the quality of the manure. 



If you do not have a stable from which to obtain 



Use boards for blanching celery 



bedding, have a liveryman deliver a load once a 

 month. Throw this in the pit and have the pigs 

 work over it. Pure hog manure is very strong, 

 but soiled bedding, whether horses or cows, trampled 

 and worked by hogs, cannot be equaled. I have a 

 pit which is practically fifty feet square, from which 

 I procure about 600 loads of first-class manure in 

 a year. We keep about twenty-five head of cattle, 

 about fifteen horses and about fifty sheep. About 

 twenty hogs are required to work this amount. 

 Previous to building, a manure pit with hog pens 

 adjoining, I never had more than 200 loads of 

 manure from the same number of horses and 

 cattle. 



The odor from a manure pit can be avoided to a 

 great extent if, when one lot of manure is fairly well 

 trampled, and worked, it is covered with more fresh 

 bedding. 



There is a difference in the rooting qualities of 

 pigs. For this purpose, the long-snouted Tams- 

 worth excel. I have tried nearly all breeds and 

 for working manure they are far ahead of any 

 other. 



Long Island. W. C. McCollom. 



[Editor's Note. — Next month we will discuss 

 the building of coldjrames, cost, etc., and the general 

 work in the garden^ 



Keeping Rabbits from Girdling 

 Trees 



THERE are some Old-Mother-Goose remedies 

 applicable in the garden that are often 

 fully as effective and of course much less expensive 

 than the latest inventions. Just plain liver is 

 one of these. This rubbed freely on the trunk of 

 trees will keep rabbits from gnawing the bark. 

 One good application in the late fall will suffice 

 for the entire winter. 



A very marked example of the efficiency of this 

 remedy came to my notice this summer, only one 

 farmer in a neighborhood having any trees left, 

 while the rest of the trees had been girdled by 

 rabbits. The smell of the liver which had been 

 rubbed on the trees kept the pests away. 



North Dakota. C. L. Meller. 



A f&w pigs are an efficient aid to the gardener 



