April, 1914 



49;$ 



No. 2.— The next drill was allowed 

 to remam in the ijround until the 

 plants were qnite dead, and these 

 were lifted in May. At planting, 

 in October, they were examined 

 and tested for jrerminatinii power. 

 No. I produced 95 per cent, of vig- 

 orous buds ; No. 2 had only 

 per cent, of vijj'orous buds. These 

 results are very remarkable. 

 • 



^ 



The Cultivfttion of Celery. 



Celerv (Apium graveolens) occurs 

 wild in marvshv sfroimd in England, 

 and in Europe jyenerally, but the 

 taste and smell when found in its 

 natural habitat are most disagree- 

 able. It appears, ho\TCver, that 

 the higher the state of cultivation 

 and the more thorough the blanch- 

 infiT, the better is the flavour of the 

 all-important crop. Celery is re- 

 garded as one of our most whole- 

 some vegetables, and it is valu- 

 able in the kitchen garden for more 

 reasons than one : apart from its 

 bedno- in great request both as a 

 green salad and a cooked veget- 

 able, no crop leaves the ground in 

 better condition for the succeeding 

 one. Celerv responds to, and also 

 nays for, good c^l^tivpt^on, and it 

 i<5 one of our vegetables that can- 

 not be produced too large for 

 table use, i.e., consistent with 

 "•ood analitv, as the larger the 

 " sticks " the better is the flavour. 

 The nrincipal noint to observe in 

 the cultivation of this crop is that 

 throuo-hout the whole season of 

 "•row^;h, from the time the seed is 

 sown until growth is finished, the 

 slants ono-ht not to receive any 

 kind of check ; and dryness at the 

 root when in a vountr .state, and 

 la.ck of attention in nrickino- off tl^e 

 seedlino-s when ready, are the two 

 T>rincir)al causes of ultimate fail- 

 ure. 



Probably one of the most im- 

 portant items is the sowing- of the 

 seed, more especially the date of 

 sowinp-, for if sown too early the 

 crop may run to flower prema- 

 turely, and the flavour is then 

 lost. A fairly, licrht compost 

 should be prepared, and pots, 

 pans, or shallow boxes used ac- 

 cordine to the anantitv dealt with. 

 After carefullv draining- and cover- 

 inf the crocks with some good 

 rou"^ii materifll, the pans, etc., 

 should be nearlv filled with good 

 loamv so^l, whi.ch shonld be 

 ■firessed level. The seed should not 

 be sown too thicklv, ^nd should be 

 iust covered with sand or fine soil, 

 watered with a fine rose, covered 

 with a sheet of glass. 



The site for the trenches should 

 be marked out and got ready some 

 time in ad\ance, especially on 

 hca\ v, retentive soils. The trench- 

 es shonld be taken out to a depth of 

 twelve or fiftwn inches and the 

 bottom be well broken up with a 

 fork. A liberal amount of good 

 half-decaved farmyard manure 

 should be added, filling the trench 

 to within three inches of the top 

 and making firm sufTicient soil 

 should then be placed on the top 

 in which to put out the yonng 

 l)lants. Planting should take 

 place when the young plants have 

 attained sufficient size, each one 

 beino- lifted with a trowel, with a 

 good ball of soil attached, so dis- 

 turbin"- the roots as little as pos- 

 sible. The plants should be in- 

 .serted firmlv at twelve to fifteen 

 inches apart, and a r^ood watering 

 in should follow. In hot weather 

 too much water can hardly be 

 applied to the roots, and once the 

 plants are growing freely, stimxi- 

 lants in the shape of artificial 1 and 

 liciuid manures properly diluted 

 mav be given with advantafre. 

 During the growing season the 

 crop .should be examined at inter- 

 vals and all side growth and split 

 leaves removed. 



Successive planting's will require 

 similar treatment, and will help to 

 keep UP the supply ; for the latest 

 plantino-s it is a srood plan to take 

 out a trench between early peas so 

 that the plants may enjoy the 

 shade afforded. 



Blanohino- is one of the most im- 

 portant items in connection with 

 the rirndnction of hieh-class celery, 

 and demands careful attention. It 

 is carried out in two ways, qnd 

 the method about to be described 

 for the earliest plantinsrs has miich 

 to recommend it. Instead of be- 

 T-nrr earthed up in the usual m.an- 

 ner, the blanching- of the stems is 

 effected by the use of cheap but 

 .stout brown paper cut into strips 

 about five inches in width, 

 M'ra-'-ned roimd thp plants, and se- 

 cured with a strand of raffia. Fur- 

 ther strips mav be added at ititer- 

 vals of about ten days. Where 

 eood " .sticks " are required, this 

 method has much to recom-mend it^ 

 as the plants are very easily w'at- 

 ered and fed, and are more free 

 from attacks of slus"s and other 

 pests, while the flavour is not in 

 the least af?ected. It nsuallv 

 takes about six to eisrht weeks to 

 blanch celery, and for the latest 

 supplies blanchintr .should not be 

 put into operation too early, of 

 the celery will be rendered much 

 more tender and susceptible to 

 frost. 



I 



For the blanching of late sup- 

 plies the methtrd described is \ise- 

 less, and the ordinary method of 

 earthing u]) should be carried out. 

 Fine weatlier should always be 

 chosen for the work, when the foli- 

 age is dry. A good watering 

 should l>e given if necessary the day 

 before, and the plants may l>e pre- 

 11a red by removing all side growths 

 and split leaves. A garden line 

 .should be stretched tightly on 

 either side of the row and the soil 

 broken finely and worked well 

 between the plants. Three men 

 may most usefully do the work, 

 one on either side of the trench 

 and the third to walk backwards 

 and place the soil well around and 

 amongst the plants, keeping the 

 foliap-e together so that no soil 

 gets between the leaves. Blanching 

 by this method should be done 

 gradually, more soil being added 

 about everv ten days until the de- 

 sired depth is obtained. — .Tournal of 

 the Board of Agriculture. 



The land intended for a potato 

 crop should receive a liberal dress- 

 ing of farmyard manure. The re- 

 searches of chemists have shown 

 that a crop ol 6 tons of tubers ex- 

 tracts from th; soil 47 Tb. of ni- 

 trogen, 21 lb. of phosphoric acid, 

 and 76 111. of potash. If we com- 

 pare those figures with the amount 

 of constituent* taken from the soil 

 by a wheat crop — about t,^^ lb. of 

 nitrogen, 16 R). ol phosphoric acid, 

 and TO fb. of potash — we p^et a 

 good idea, of the heavy feeding 

 capacity of the potato crop, parti- 

 cularly as regards potash. 



The Columbia 



Garden Seed DriU 



Sows Accurately 



Every Kind of Garden Seed. 



IF NEEDED, ONE SEED AT A 

 TIME, OR IN GROUPS AT REGU- 

 LAR SPACES. 



No seeds Bruised or Destroyed. 



We will send free illustrated descrip- 

 tive Booklet. 



Norman & Co. 



BANK STREET, ADELAIDE, 

 SOLE IMPORTERS, 



