November 25, 1905. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
899 
Vegetables 
# * # 
XIV. — CELERY. 
ALL THE YEAR ROUND. 
This is one of the most useful of all vege¬ 
tables. It is also used as a salad, and figures 
prominently on the dining-table as such. 
Soil and Situation. —The soil must be deep 
and fairly rich. It is almost useless to attempt 
to grow Celery on shallow, hard land, and also 
in pure sand. In the first instance the plants 
would only be fit for flavour¬ 
ing soups, and in the latter 
case it would be a difficult 
matter to keep the leaves 
free of the Celery grub, 
and, furthermore, the plants 
would be stunted, and the 
stalks hard and stringy. 
Feeding may be done to 
assist the growth, but a 
good, deep, natural, medium 
loam is the best of all. 
A seedling Celery The position of the 
plant. Its size quarter for the plants in 
when first trans- summer and autumn should 
planted. be an open one, and not on 
a very dry border near the 
roots of trees, as the necessary earthing-up 
would disturb the roots of the latter, and do 
harm if they were fruit trees. 
Sowing the Seeds. —It is always wise to 
have a few very early plants. These should be 
raised from seeds sown in a pot the first week 
in February. A white variety is the most 
suitable for the early crop. Use rich, fine soil, 
Young plants pricked out in small frame. 
They require one more transplanting 
before being fit for the trenches. 
well drain the pot, make the soil firm, sow 
the seeds thinly, and cover them slightly; 
water through a fine-rosed watering-can, put a 
piece of glass on the pot and then some brown 
paper. A warm frame is the best place 
for the pot until the seedlings require to 
be transplanted. Cover the pot with paper 
until the seedlings have attained a length 
of nearly half an inch. The principal sowing- 
should be made in March, the seeds being sown 
in boxes, pans, or pots in the same way, and in 
similar soil as recommended for the earliest 
crop. 
The First Transplanting. —When the seed¬ 
lings possess a second rough leaf commence to 
transplant them. Fill boxes with rich soil, or 
make up a bed in a warm frame, and trans- 
\ plant the young Celery to their new quarters, 
leaving a space of three inches from plant to 
: plant. 
The Second Transplanting. —This should 
take place before the young plants get too 
j crowded in the beds or boxes, and exhaust the 
goodness in the soil. This time make up a bed 
in a cool frame, or outside, where temporary 
protection may be given. 
The bottom of the bed should be formed of 
fine ashes, on them a layer of manure two 
inches deep, and finally a layer of good loamy 
soil four inches deep. Make the bed firm, 
surface it with sand, and then transplant the 
young Celery, selecting those of one size as 
nearly as possible. When put out in a trench 
it is advisable to have the' plants of the same 
size, as they are used as dug up, and not chosen 
from the bed like Cauliflowers and Cabbages. 
Summer Culture. —Deep trenches are bad 
for the plants. It is surely not wise to take 
out the good soil, to be used later simply for 
earthing up, and plant the Celery in the cold, 
hungry, subsoil. 
A trench eighteen inches wide and one foot 
deep is sufficient for one row of plants. Put in 
Section of a trench with a young plant just 
put in, to form, with others, a single row. 
a good supply of rotted manure, and thoroughly 
incorporate it with the soil in the trench, so 
that the roots will have some substance to lay 
hold of, and which will support them during 
the early stages of growth. Afterwards com¬ 
mence to feed the plants, never allowing them 
to get a check to growth. Occasionally ex¬ 
amine the plants to see if any stalks are split, 
or suckers growing; if found, remove them 
forthwith. 
At all times keep the heart or centre of the 
plants free from soil, and their surroundings 
free from weeds. Give clear water before apply¬ 
ing any stimulants, and always be sure that 
the roots are moist, as they love moisture. 
Showing how a plant should be earthed 
up finally. The strip of matting should 
be free of the soil at the top. 
Earthing-up. —Soil is banked up against 
the rows of plants to cause the latter to blanch 
and become tender, also to protect the stems 
from frost. But it is wise to defer earthing-up 
as long as possible. Tie up the plants to pre¬ 
vent any soil lodging in their hearts and caus¬ 
ing decay. The earthing should be completed 
before any severe frosts occur, or by the end of 
October. 
Winter Treatment.— The chief thing to do 
is to remove any decayed leaves, and to cover 
the tops with straw or Fern litter in very 
frosty weather. 
Insect Pests and Diseases. —The white 
markings on the leaves are caused by the grub 
of the Celery fly. The latter punctures the 
leaf and deposits its eggs therein ; soon after¬ 
wards the grub begins to move about, mining 
the leaves in every direction. The remedy is 
to pull off and burn all affected leaves. But 
prevention is best; and as there are several 
broods of insects or attacks upon the leaves 
from midsummer to October, soot should be 
freely sprinkled over the leaves and on the 
banks of hedges and other fences monthly 
from May to September. In this way the fly 
may be driven away, as it does not like the 
smell of soot, and will pass away from plants 
covered with it. 
Canker, or rot, damages stunted and over¬ 
grown Celery. A check to growth or injury to 
growing stems causes the parts to turn rusty in 
colour, to decay, and so spoil the whole plant. 
A well grown plant is rarely so affected. 
Varieties. —Seymour's Superb White, 
Bibby’s Defiance Solid White, Sandringham 
White and Giant Grove White, Clayworth’s 
Prize Pink, Sulham Prize Pink, Leicester Red, 
Major Clarke’s Red, and Standard Bearer. 
In season from July to the following March. 
A FLORIFX ROUS 
GREENHOUSE PLANT. 
(Chaenostoma hispidum.) 
Very many gardeners, both amateur and 
professional, have but little accommodation for 
a stock of decorative plants, but nevertheless 
require a goodly number of such subjects for 
purposes of furnishing. To such there are few 
things capable of doing greater service than 
Chaenostoma hispidum. The plant is all but 
hardy, requiring only the protection of a cold 
greenhouse or frame. Thus at the outset we 
set forth a point of the utmost importance to 
gardeners who lack the accommodation of a 
hothouse. It is, moreover, possessed of a 
remarkably neat habit, while in point of flori- 
ferousness it is difficult to find an equal. 
At the beginning of October I cut back my 
plants for the purpose of inducing fresh growth 
for propagating. They had been blooming 
profusely 7 and uninterruptedly 7 from February 
to October, and even when cutting them 
back it would have been a difficult matter to 
count the number of blooms on a single speci¬ 
men. The stems of the plants are rigid and 
wiry, growing perfectly erect to a height of 
10 or 12 ins., sufficiently numerous to make 
quite a compact little bush in a 5 in. pot. 
The leaves are cordate, crisp, with slight un¬ 
dulations at the margin, somewhat glaucous, 
and closely arranged on short foot-stalks along 
the entire length of the stems. The flowers are 
very small, individually, but are produced in 
prodigious numbers at the axils of the leaves. 
They have a narrow tube less than I in. in 
length with flattened sepals after the style of a 
miniature Jasmine, 
