308 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[August, 
it is better to buy seeds than to save them. 
If any are saved they should be only from 
the best of the choicest varieties of plants. 
I’lowcr Osii’Acu S.siwua. 
The work here will be mostly keeping 
things in order. In a dry time watering must 
be done. Those plants that would suffer 
most should have the earth drawn away be¬ 
fore watering, and returned 
after the ground is well 
soaked. The neatness of 
the flower beds will depend 
upon the care in trimming, 
especially if foliage designs 
have been attempted. Stake 
Dahlias, Tuberoses, Gladio¬ 
luses, etc., that need such 
support. Old flowers should 
be cut off as fast as they 
fade. Keep the lawn mower 
going, remove all large 
weeds in the lawn, and pre¬ 
serve the tidy looks of the place in every way. 
to an erect position, in which they are held 
by drawing the earth to them with the other 
hand and pressing it firmly, taking care in 
doing this that no earth gets among the leaf¬ 
stalks, or into the heart of the plant. When 
the plants have been thus “handled,” they 
will appear as in the engraving, from Mr. 
Henderson's work before referred to. The 
plants will continue to grow for some time 
SECTION OF RIDGES, SHOWING CELERY PLANTS IN PLACE. 
<j<i-eculioii$e .and Window BMiiuts. 
If the greenhouse needs painting or any 
repairs, it should be done well before the 
time for taking in the plants. A supply of 
pots, labels, potting material, etc., should be 
provided before the busy days of autumn 
have come. The propagation of many plants 
may be going on. Fumigate if necessary. 
The Autumn Treatment of Celery. 
yet, but in a position which prepares them 
for the operation of blanching, which is done 
by banking up the plants with earth to near¬ 
ly their full length. This, however, should 
not be done until October, or later, when the 
season of active growth is over; should any 
considerable growth take place after the bank¬ 
ing has been done, there is danger that the 
growth will be at the expense of the stalks 
already formed, and these will become hollow 
or “ piped.” The final treatment and meth¬ 
ods of storing for winter, both in pits and in 
the cellar, will be given in another article. 
In an article last month, on the planting of 
Celery, it was stated that our growers for 
market generally adopt surface culture. 
Indeed, only those who follow old methods 
because they were taught them in youth,- 
now set their celery in the bottom of a trench. 
The introduction of dwarf varieties of celery, 
which give as great a proportion of edible 
stalk as the old kind that are twice as tall, 
has had much to do with popularizing surface 
culture. Not only are the dwarf varieties 
more readily grown, but their storage is more 
convenient, and they are less liable to become 
hollow. This method of treating celery, 
though for several years practised by market 
gardeners near New York, was first made 
public by Peter Henderson, a number of years 
ago, in an article in our columns, and after¬ 
wards in his excellent “Gardening for Profit,” 
and he may be said to have revolutionized 
celery culture in this country. The plants 
having been set, as described last month, they 
are to be kept clear of weeds, and their growth 
encouraged by the use of the hoe. The plants, 
under this treatment, will have very little of 
the appearance that we see in celery ready 
for the market, as the leaves will spread in 
all directions, and the stalks, instead of being 
w r hite,are of the same dark-green as the leaves. 
In order to fit the celery for use, it has to be 
bleached, which is done by the complete ex¬ 
clusion of light. When celery is grown in 
trenches, it is soon brought to the upright po¬ 
sition and held there by the gradual filling up 
of the trench. By the present method, the 
plant is allowed to first make nearly its full 
growth, and is then blanched by surrounding 
it with earth. This is not done in the climate 
of New York until about the middle of Sep¬ 
tember. The first step in this is called by the 
gardeners “ handling,” and consists in giving 
the leaves an upward direction; the leaves are 
carefully gathered in one hand and brought 
A Cheap ancl Convenient Stable with 
Sliding Partitions. 
Mr. W. E. Taylor, Burleson Co., Texas, 
writes : “I here describe a cheap shed-stable 
I built last fall, in which were put sliding 
partitions, of my own devising, that, though 
rough, have been of untold value to me. My 
stable, figure 1, is 10 by 20 feet, built against 
the corn house ; it is divided into four, 5 by 
10-foot stalls by three 6-foot partitions. These 
partitions are nailed at one end to a 2-inch 
piece spiked to the outer wall of the 
corn house; the other end is fastened to 
a 2 by 4-inch upright, which is let into 
the ground and nailed to the rafter over¬ 
head. The two end sliding gates shut 
Fig. 1.—PERSPECTIVE VIEW OF STABLE. 
against the outer wall of the shed. A 2-inch 
strip is nailed on each side to prevent the 
horses from pushing it out of place. The 
middle partition shuts against the door, and 
has a long button which turns down horizon¬ 
tally, and fits tightly into the doorway. This 
button is fastened through its middle to the 
gate with a 2 1 / 2 -incli screw, and is turned 
perpendicularly when the gate is shoved back. 
The uprights, b,b, fig. 3, (2 by 4-inch stuff), are 
set in the ground five feet eight inches from 
the wall of the corn house. The stall pieces 
are then fastened by one end to this up¬ 
right, the spaces being as wide as the boards. 
The ends are nailed securely to the wall. 
The size and position of the posts in the stall 
partitions and the sliding gate are shown in 
figure 2. The upper edge of the top board 
of the partition is 
planed smooth, that 
the sliding gate 
may rest upon it 
and move easily. 
The gate, when 
closed across the 
passage-way, is fast- , 
, . , , Fir-. 2.—the sliding gate. 
ened m place by a 
long wooden button, which fits between two 
strips that are nailed upon the rear wall of 
the stable. The middle gate shuts against 
the door at d, fig. 3, and to hold it, put on 
a piece of 1 by 4-inch stuff just the width of 
-^ 
u 
LL 
L 
h 
b 
b 
-■- cl 
Fig. 3.—GROUND PLAN OF STABLE. 
the door casing.” Figure 2, engraved from 
a model sent by Mr. Taylor, shows the sliding 
gate and makes the whole matter plain. The 
ground plan of the stable is given in figure 3. 
Ited-ESug!) Once More.— A corre¬ 
spondent in New Jersey, “A. J. H.,” having 
the misfortune to occupy a house in which 
“every crack in the floor and walls was full” 
of the insects, he commenced first with the 
bedsteads. These were taken down and each 
one “ was painted from top to toe with paint 
in which kerosene was mixed.” He suggests 
that kerosene alone would probably have done 
as well, of which we have no doubt. In 
his desperation he was led to cover his bed¬ 
steads with the mixture of paint and kero¬ 
sene, but kerosene alone, applied to the joints 
only, would have served the end in view, 
which was to get rid of the insects already in 
the bedstead. Having freed the bedsteads, 
his next point was to keep the bugs out. He 
took old tomato cans, removed the tops, and 
set one under each leg of the bedstead, and 
partly filled them with water. This method 
was a complete success ; the water in the 
cans offered an impassable barrier to the 
marauders, and he afterwards was free from 
the attacks of those established in the floor 
and walls. This insulation, so to speak, of 
the bedstead reminds us of an account of the 
intelligence of the Scorpion that we were 
told in Mexico. The Scorpion makes a most 
painful bite, but it is by no means, as gener¬ 
ally supposed, deadly. A Mexican officer told 
us that being where scorpions were especially 
abundant, he fitted his bedstead with dishes 
of water under the legs. This answered for 
a night or two, after which the scorpions 
climbed to the top of the room (for it can 
hardly be called ceiling), and dropped down 
upon his bed. If Yankee bed-bugs are as 
cute as Mexican scorpions, that are above 
described, the “ protection will not protect.” 
