46 



BUISTS FAMILY KITCHEN GARDENER. 



rusty, greenish-white — which, of course, will be pronounced ac 

 inferior sort, and the blame attached to the^seed. 



Culture. — To procure early Celery, the seed should be sown 

 on a gentle hot-bed, from the first to the middle of March 

 Collect a load or two of warm horse-manure. Put it in a 

 form eighteen inches thick, to be covered with a frame and glass 

 sash. When the violent heat has subsided, cover it with sis 

 inches of light soil, whereon sow your seed. Press it down, 

 and rake it lightly, giving a gentle watering. Put on the glasses ; 

 shade from severe sun ; give a little air from 11 to 2 o'clock : 

 and as soon as the plants are up, air freely. Thin them out to 

 half an inch apart. When they are three inches high, plant 

 them out into a well-prepared bed of rich, light soil, which 

 will be from the first to the middle of April — cover at 

 night with mats or boards, to protect from cold or frost. By 

 the first of June, they will be sufficiently strong to plant out 

 in trenches for blanching. However, where extreme earliness 

 is not an object, sow the seed about the first of April, on a rich, 

 dry, warm border : when up, thin them out. About the mid- 

 dle of May, transplant them, three or four inches apart, into 

 another piece of ground, to stock and harden, till they are 

 finally planted into the rows for permanent culture. 



The regular way is to select a level and rich piece of ground ; 

 dig the trenches a foot wide, ten inches deep, and three feet 

 from each other : if convenient, from north to south, though 

 any other aspect will do. Let the earth be regularly thrown 

 out on each side of the trench, and sloped off. Five or six 

 inches of well decomposed manure should then be worked full 

 half-spade deep into the bottom of each trench. The plants 

 which were transplanted into the beds or frame should be 

 carefully lifted, and prepared for planting, which is done by 

 cutting off the extremity of the roots : shortening their tops 

 or leaves, but not so low as to injure the young centre leaves 

 and divesting the neck of the plant from suckers. This dona 



