I. F. Tillinghast, , * 
Dear sir. Accompanying this 
is a small box containing specimens of cabbage 
and cauliflower plants whose stems are diseased. 
In a long experience of plant growing I never 
saw anything like it and apply t» you for infor¬ 
mation. They have been once transplanted and 
at time of transplanting there were no signs of 
“damping of stems” being healthy and now they 
show no signs of falling over. Would not know 
from appearance of top that anything was the 
matter. Whole boxes are affected and they look 
as well in tops as those which are all right. I 
can discover no traces of insects. Cabbage out 
of same beds seem all right only a few contigu¬ 
ous to the cauliflower. Can it be any disease pe¬ 
culiar to cauliflower and ' not cabbage where so 
closely allied. Temperature and general man¬ 
agement and soil same in all the beds, used small 
sprinkling of wood ashes raked in well when 
sowing. Soil was partly what was used in to¬ 
mato hotbeds last season with an addition of 
about one half new soil and rotten leaf mold. It 
will add importantly to my knowledge of plant 
growing if you can tell me what is the matter. 
Very Truly, Burt Eddy. 
Wheeler, Indiana. 
The plants accompanying this were very fine 
and of a healthy appearance except that about 
at the surface of the soil the stem were dried 
down to a fine black wiry appearance, we should 
say very similar to what is known as “damping 
off.” We have never satisfied ourselves as to 
what the exact cause of this disease is. 
Cardington, Ohio, January 4th, 1882. 
Mr. Isaac F. Tillinghast, 
Dear Sir. I propose 
going into celery. There are two things T know 
celery must have, manure and moisture. Please, 
allow me to ask you a question or two: 
1 What variety is the best, most hardy and de¬ 
sirable for market. (A seedsman advised a friend 
of mine, last year, to plant the, ••Incomparable 
Dwarf White, and the Sandringham White.) 
Would that be your choice. 2 I have three 
years deposits of hen manure, wou’d that be 
good for celery and if so, in what way shall I 
apply it or would the Buffalo superphosphate be 
better, or use both. 3 In what way can I suc¬ 
cessfully make the seed grow and start plants. 
Excuse me for troubling you, but I felt your 
judgement and advice would be worth everything 
to' me in my new undertaking. My lan I for 
celery and cabbage is rich river botton, deep soil 
of a sa r dy nature. I also have running watc 
handy. Anyihiog besides what I have asked 
that you know w uld be of benefit, please write 
me and I assure you it will be a great favor. 
T'ustim? I do not intrude to much and that soon 
after, the receipt of this I shall receive answer 
from the above you will have my thanks, 
Very Res. ectfullv, 
George W. Porter. 
We give'some notes on Celery in this number. 
We hope the Ten Dollar offer on page 9 will 
bring out some valuable ideas on this subject. 
Editorial JYotes and Comments • 
Did you plant any of the new grapes, straw¬ 
berries, peaches or other fruits, or any new flow¬ 
ers or vegetables for trial this season ? If so 
don’t forget to tell us next fall just what you 
think of them. We shall have more room for 
such reports hereafter, and this department of 
Seed-Time and Harvest will become a valua¬ 
ble feature as it will enable others to decide 
which of the many new offerings are of the most 
value. 
Try planting a row of celery between two 
rows of early sweet corn or potatoes this year if 
you have not unoccupied ground. The latter 
may be cleared away before the celery will need 
the room. 
After hoeing, scatter a peck of corn broad¬ 
cast among your potatoes and call your flock of 
fowls into the field. After picking up all the 
corn they can find they will pick up or drive 
away all the Colorado beetles. So says a friend 
who has tried it. 
Does your chimney need cleaning ? Buy a 
piece of hoop-iron a little longer than the flue. 
Run it down into the chimney from the top and 
twist it around a few times. It will scrape it as 
clean as you could with a knife in hand. There 
should be an opening at the bottom from which 
to remove the soot. 
Professor C ook says that a carbolic soap 
wash has with him proved a very effectual pre¬ 
ventive of radish maggots and apple tree borers. 
His formula is as follows: To two quar ts of soft 
soap I added two gallous of water, this was then 
heated to a boiling temperature, when one pint 
of carbolic acid (ia a crude state) was added. 
This mixture is then set away in a barrel or 
other vessel, and is ready for use as occasion 
may require. One part of this liquid is then 
mixed with fiifty parts of water and the plants 
sprinkled, or trees washed with it. This i , 
worth remembering. 
A celery garden of forty six acres, believed 
to be th • largest in the world, is cultivated in 
the suburbs of Lmdon, and the annual product 
is about half a million of r >ots or plant*. There 
is no vegetable grown in this country which 
meets with a more readv 3ale at, profitable fig¬ 
ures than celery, and the demand is rapidly in 
creasing. 
We have kept hogs in our orchard from 
April to S ptember for pust two years. They 
devour all the w- rms and we ,can already ste a 
