Celery Culture. 
BY JOSEPH GARRISON. 
Dwarf celery should be planted on the 
level surfaces ol the ground, The large va¬ 
rieties may be grown in shallow trenches 
from 4 to 6 inches below the surface. Bet¬ 
ter success will be attained, and with the 
labor, by sowing the seed where the celery 
is to be grown, than by sowing in a seed¬ 
bed and transplanting the plants to shallow 
drills or trenches. The benefits arising 
from this method of culture, are numerous. 
There is not only an immense saving in 
time and labor, but the great risk to run of 
losing the whole crop by transplanting in 
dry weather, will be avoided. And again 
if the roots are left undisturbed they will 
reach out farther, gather more nourish¬ 
ment, and, consequently the plants will 
make more rapid and larger growth than 
when they are torn asunder in being trans¬ 
planted. 
Celery, when grown in this way, may be 
sown two weeks later than by the usual 
method. It will also be found to be more 
crisp and tender, as transplanting has a 
tendency to check its growth and to make 
it tough rather than to make it tender. 
This is not only theory, but actual exper¬ 
ience. My celery the present season is fifty 
per cent better where grown after this 
manner than that grown by the old meth¬ 
od. Try it next season and report your 
success. 
THE SOIL. 
Select a clay loam, deep, rich, and pliable. 
It should be well drained and free from 
water* as celery is very susceptible to in¬ 
jury from excessive moisture. If your 
field is covered with a heavy sod, plow in 
the fall, cultivate thoroughly in the spring 
and enrich the soil by spreading broadcast 
from 40 to 50 tons per acre of rich, well rot¬ 
ted stable manure. Plow the manure un¬ 
der about three inches deep, harrow and 
roll with a light field roller. Mark off in 
drills three feet apart and sow for early 
crop about the 15th of April; for second 
early the 1st of May, and for general crops 
about the middle of May. 
The seed should be covered lightly and 
the soil pressed with the feet or covered 
with boards until the seed begins to germi¬ 
nate. The intervening space between the 
drills or trenches should be planted at once 
with early vegetables. The rows 9 inches 
apart of either onions, spinach, or lettuce, 
may be planted between two rows of celery. 
Cabbage seed may be sown the the same 
distance apart for plants. One row of ei¬ 
ther early eabbage, sweet corn, peas, beets, 
bunch beans, or radishes may also be grown 
between two of the rows and harvested 
without serious injury to the celery crop. 
As soon as the planting is done the hand 
cultivator should be used to keep the soil 
mellow and to destroy noxious weeds* 
When the celery plants begin to appear 
watch closely for the little ants, as they rel¬ 
ish a dinner of this delicious vegetable 
when it is young and tender, and will soon 
destroy thousands of plants. A little pow¬ 
dered borax or sometimes bone meal scat¬ 
tered among them will drive them away. 
The surest way is to saturate sponges with 
sweetened water or spread lard on paper 
and place these at intervals along the rows 
and you can soon capture them. After the 
plants have become well rooted and be¬ 
tween two and three inches high, thin out 
to three inches apart leaving the healthiest 
and stoutest plants in the drills. Keep the 
soil mellow and loose several inches below 
the surface and near the plants to let in 
air and the rays of the sun and to allow the 
moisture to rise. When the plants are 
from 10 to 12 inches high the banking up 
process should begin. This work can be 
greatly lessened by preparing a round tin 
sheath 6 inches long and 2| inches in diam¬ 
eter for each plant. The edges of these 
sheaths need not be soldered together but 
simply lap over each other, the end being 
inserted in the earth about an inch, will 
prevent them from spreading open. They 
can be made for a trifle and will last a life 
time. The branches of the plant will be 
kept in an upright position by them, and 
the heart so protected That the banking up 
at first, can be done by a hand plow, hoe, or 
spade and in one-fourth the time that 
would be required to do it with the hands. 
As the celery grows larger the sheaths 
should be moved up and the filling up done 
