178 



VEGETABLE GARDENING. 



even if kept cold. To have the roots keep best they should be 

 growing rapidly when dug. In dry cellars, it may be necessary 

 to cover with loam or sand to prevent those on top of the bin or 

 pile from wilting. If they are to be fed early in the winter, they 

 may perhaps be piled in the barn and covered with chaff and 

 straw sufficient to keep out the frost until used. 



Carrot seed is raised by planting out the roots in the spring, 

 about two feet apart, in rows four feet apart. The seed heads 

 ripen irregularly and are gathered as they ripen and threshed 

 when dry. The seed is generally rubbed against a sieve having a 

 fine mesh to take the bristles off, otherwise it would be a difficult 

 matter to sow it in a machine. 



The torcmg of carrots is carried on to a limited extent, for 

 which purpose they may be sown between rows of radishes in 

 the hotbed or greenhouso. 



Varieties. — For very early table use the Short Scarlet is best. 

 For general use in summer and for winter use, perhaps there 

 is no better variety than the Danvers. The Guerande Half 

 Long, or Oxheart, ,is a variety that is very thick and short and 

 yields nearly as much as the Danvers. It has the advantage, 

 moreover, of being easily pulled by hand without any digging. 

 The White Belgian is a large cropper, but only of value as food 

 for stock. Thirty tons of carrots are sometimes raised on one 

 acre, but in ordinary practice seldom more than half that amount 

 is raised. 



CELERY. (Apium graveolens.) 



Native of Europe. — Biennial. — The plants are grown for the 

 fleshy leaf stalks, which are very tender when blanched; one 

 form is also grown for the large fleshy roots. The whole plant 

 has a pleasant aromatic flavor. The seed stalks are branching 

 and grow from two to three feet high, and have very small yel- 

 lowish or greenish flowers in compound umbels. The seed is 

 small, triangle and five-ribbed, having the characteristic aro- 

 matic flavor of the plant. 



Celery is a crop that is very liable to suffer from the want 

 of rich, nitrogenous manures and from a superabundance of or 

 a lack of moisture in the soil. On this account it should be 



