THE LADIES’ FLORAL CABINET. 
183 
a vivid scarlet in color, and remain two or three months 
in perfection. 
A. warocqueamun has leaves from twenty-four to thirty 
inches in length and not more than seven or eight in 
breadth. The ground color is a deep lustrous green, 
with light-colored midrib and veins. 
A grand pot plant is Aspidistra lurida variegata. It 
has large leaves, broadly striped with white. It is of easy 
culture, a very robust plant, but of slow growth. One 
leaf, however, when it unfolds from its twist, is worth a 
great deal—it is so large, so beautiful and so established. 
It says emphatically, “ I have come to stay, and no 
changes of season nor place can make any changes in 
me.” For a decorative plant, to contrast with a dark- 
bronze dracaena, margined with crimson, it is admirable. 
Should be grown in quite small pots, and the soil liberally 
mixed with sand. 
Eranthemums are fine for the open border or the win¬ 
dow-garden. Tricolor is of dwarf habit; color of the 
foliage olive-green, blotched with grayish-purple and 
salmon-pink. Sanguinea —foliage deep crimson-ma¬ 
roon,. leathery-like; admirable for bedding out. For 
dark foliage plants. Euphorbia sanguinea, purplish- 
crimson, and E. atropurpurea, blackish-purple, are de¬ 
sirable. 
M. D. Wellcome. 
THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. 
Celery. 
I T appears to me to be very singular that so many per¬ 
sons consider celery to be one of the most difficult 
of garden vegetables to cultivate successfully, when in 
reality it is one of the most easily grown, and any per¬ 
son can readily grow it to perfection if he has any in¬ 
clination to do so. Within the past few years the man¬ 
ner of cultivating celery has been very much simplified, 
thus placing it within the power of the amateur cultivator 
to raise all he desires for his own use; but as it is too 
late in the season for him to attempt to raise his own 
plants, I think it advisable to omit this part of the 
subject for the present, but I would here say that as 
the seedling plants are rather troublesome to raise, they 
can usually be obtained at any seed store much cheaper 
than one could raise them, if only a few hundred plants 
are required. But where they are wanted by the thou¬ 
sand or so it is preferable to raise them at home, the sim¬ 
ple fact of their being on hand whenever wanted being 
ample recompense for the time and care bestowed upon 
them. 
It is altogether useless to expect to obtain a good crop 
of tender, succulent celery unless it has a rapid and un¬ 
interrupted growth from the start, and to secure this not 
only should the ground be properly prepared, but the crop 
must be carefully cared for during its season of growth, 
and I cannot too strongly insist on this being done. 
The ground should be deeply and thoroughly plowed, 
and repeatedly harrowed until it is as finely pulverized as 
possible, and when this is done it can be marked out in 
rows from three to four feet apart, according to the variety 
grown, and the amount of ground one has at his dis¬ 
posal. 
The rows should be opened as deeply as possible by- 
means of the plow, and a good supply of well decayed 
stable manure thoroughly and deeply intermixed with the 
soil by means of the fork, and then leveled off as nicely 
as possible. All of this preparatory work should be per¬ 
formed before the first of July; so that the ground can 
become well settled before it is wanted for use, which is 
about the middle of July, although the plants can be 
planted at any time during the month. In planting, place 
the plants about six inches apart in the row, and see 
to it that the ground is well “ firmed ” around the roots 
Planting is best done just previous to or after rain, al¬ 
though it can be done at any time, if not too hot or dry. 
In this case, however, the plants should be very carefully 
removed from the seed-bed, and the ground well pressed 
or “ firmed ” around their roots. This is very essential 
in plantings of all kinds, as it partially excludes the air 
until the new rootlets are formed. 
In removing the plants from the seed-bed, let the 
ground be first thoroughly saturated with water, then 
with a small trowel raise the plants carefully, retaining 
as much of the earth and fibrous roots as possible. 
Plants so treated can be safely removed at any time, 
but it is preferable to select damp or cloudy weather 
for the operation. Care should also be taken not to set 
the plants too deep, for if the heart is covered with soil, 
the growth will be materially retarded. 
After the crop is planted, nothing further is to be done 
for some six or eight weeks, excepting to keep the plants 
well cultivated and free from weeds. 
As to varieties for cultivation, I prefer the Perfection 
Heartwell, London Red and Sandringham Dwarf White, 
although one will not go astray in selecting any of the 
varieties enumerated or described by any of our principal 
seedsmdn. 
The Perfection Heartwell is an excellent keeping sort, 
and is a strong growing variety doing well in light or poor 
soils, and for inexperienced cultivators the most prefera¬ 
ble. The London Red is also an excellent keeper, and in 
my opinion is more crisp and better flavored than any of 
the white sorts, while the Sandringham is well known as 
being one of the most solid and finely flavored of the 
white varieties. 
Directions for “handling” and “ earthing - up ” that 
portion of the crop desired for fall and early winter use. 
and also for the preservation of the crop for winter uses, 
will be given in the August Cabinet. 
Charles E. Parnell. 
