PUGET SOUND SEED GARDENS 
29 
heart, and heap the dirt up around the plants, being careful not to let the dirt 
fall into or cover the central buds. Do not handle, cultivate or hill up Celery 
when wet, as it will cause it to rust. After is has grown up above the dirt, plow 
or shovel soil up against it again. Do not hill all of your Celery at one time, but 
a portion at a time at intervals of a week or ten days, so it will not all be ready for 
use at once, but will come along in succession as you need it. The White Plume 
and the Half-Dwarfs are the easiest grown and easiest blanched, as they do not 
need to be banked up so high as the tall-growing kinds. To have Celery for 
Christmas or New Years, start it later, and the fall rains will irrigate it for you 
and make it grow nicely for the holidays. 
HOW TO GROW GREEN CORN. 
Some people have found it difficult to grow Green Corn. True, it does not 
grow here quite so rapidly as back in the corn states, but with proper care you 
can get splendid results and have your table supplied with the best of Green Corn. 
Do not plant it till the ground is warm, if you have to wait till the first of May. 
Make the ground warmer by plowing in all the horse manure you can plow under, 
if your soil is not naturally of a warm nature. 
Plant in hills, one-half inch deep, three feet apart, five or six kernels to the 
hill. Afterwards thin out to two stalks to the hill, and pull the suckers off vvhen 
hoeing. Plant the Early Cory, if you have poor success with the late jcinds. 
Never plant corn in long, single rows, but block it together in a square, or it will 
not get sufficiently fertilized with the pollen to fill out good. Plant the Cory and 
the Minnesota at the same time, and you will have a succession and have Green 
Corn till frost comes. It is worth growing just for the fodder to feed the cow. 
Green Corn is easily dried after cutting it from the cob, and will be nearly as 
good as the canned corn for winter use. It does not ripen and get too hard to 
eat as soon as it does in the East, so it is in season fit for use for a much longer 
time in our climate. For family use, we have for several years canned it in glass 
fruit jars with perfect success. 
HOW TO GROW AND RIPEN TOMATOES. 
Our climate in Western Washington is not the best one in the world to ripen 
Tomatoes. They are more easily grown in a hotter climate, but we have a long 
season between frosts, enabling us to enjoy our Tomatoes here for many weeks 
after our Eastern friends have had theirs spoiled by the September frosts. We 
should not plant the large, late varieties that are so generally grown in the East 
and South. The Early Ruby and the Earliana are much the best for us, as they 
are the earliest of any and do not rot on the vines, as other kinds are sure to do. 
The seeds should be sown early, in February or March, and the plants kept grow- 
ing in the house or in the hot-beds, and not set out in the open ground until it is 
warm in May, and the danger of frosts is over. To keep them stocky, they should 
be transplanted as often as they get long stems. Set them slanting so you can 
cover the stems, and you will get more roots, which come out all along the plant, 
where the soil covers it. We sometimes transplant out twice before we put them 
where they are to grow, which makes three times transplanted, and when we set 
a tomato plant out in the garden or field we again lay it down and cover it well 
with soil, nearly to the top. We thus get age, stocky plants, and abundant roots. 
They grow rapidly, as soon as the weather is warm enough, and we have never 
yet failed to get plenty of ripe Tomatoes. 
We give them plenty of room, three or four feet apart each way, so there will 
not be a crowded swamp of vines. Select a well-drained, warm place, not too 
rich soil, or the vines will grow too rank. If the soil is very poor, put a quart of 
well-rotted hen manure in each hill, mixing it well with the soil. This will be 
sufficient to get a good growth of vine and set a large crop of fruit, and the roots 
will by that time get into the poorer soil, the fertilizer being used up, the vines 
will stop growing so vigorously and the fruit will ripen up. Can up a liberal 
supply for family use in glass jars. You will find them much better than any 
you can buy in tins. 
