THE LADIES’ FLORAL CABINET. 
211 
the row of celery. This should not be done, however, 
when the plants are wet from dew or rain, and care 
should be taken to keep the leaf-stalks close together, so 
that no earth can fall in the centre or between the leaf¬ 
stalks of the plant. 
Within three or four weeks after being banked it will 
be ready for use, so that if it is desired to have celery 
earlier in the season it should be handled and banked ac¬ 
cordingly. But if the celery is desired for winter use 
and is to be stored away in trenches or in the cellar, all 
that it requires is the operation of handling, and this can 
be repeated as often as the plants seem to require it. 
I do not know of any better method of preserving 
celery during the winter season than that recommended 
by Mr. Peter Henderson in his excellent work, “ Garden 
and Farm Topics,” and from which I take the liberty of 
quoting as follows: “ The best way to keep celery for 
family use is to place it in a cool cellar. It should be 
stored in narrow boxes of a depth a little less than {he 
height of the celery. A few inches of sand or soil should 
be placed in the bottom of the box, and the celery packed 
upright, the roots being placed on the sand or soil at the 
bottom, but no sand or soil should be placed between 
the stalks, all that is needed being the damp sand on the 
bottom of the box, the meaning of which is that before 
the celery will blanch or whiten it must first start at the 
root; hence, the necessity of placing the roots on an inch 
or so of damp sand. Boxes thus packed and placed in a 
cool cellar early in November will be blanched and fit for 
use during January or February. But the celery intended 
for use later than this should not be packed or brought 
inside until there is danger of a sharp frost.” If one has 
no suitable cellar the celery can be easily preserved in 
the manner followed by market gardeners. A trench is 
dug about eight inches in width, and of a depth equal to 
the height of the celery, which should be packed in it 
exactly in the manner described for storing in boxes to 
be placed in the cellar, that is, it should be made to stand 
as nearly upright as possible, and packed as closely to¬ 
gether as can be done without bruising it. After the 
trench is filled it should be covered over with wooden 
shutters, so placed as to prevent the plants from becom¬ 
ing wet and the trench from being filled with water. 
As the weather becomes cold the shutters should be 
gradually covered with leaves or litter to the thickness 
of seven or eight inches, or enough to prevent freez¬ 
ing; this will enable it to be easily taken out when 
planted, by commencing to take it out on one end of 
the trench. 
Great care should be taken to have the ground in 
which it is to be preserved for winter use as dry as pos¬ 
sible and so arranged that no water can remain in the 
trench, and let the winter covering be placed on very 
gradually, this last being a very important point. 
In conclusion I may be permitted to say that, as far as 
my experience has extended, I have found the red or 
pink varieties to keep best, and advise that they be so 
placed in the trenches as to be reserved for use during 
the late winter and early spring months. 
Charles E. Parnell. 
MISS THEO’S LOVE AFFAIRS. 
H ER name was Theodora Popplewell, but if the ami¬ 
able and sweet-tempered Theodora detested any¬ 
thing it was her surname, and by her own request she 
was called Miss Theodora. But the world—which every 
one admits is a queer sort of world—has a lazy fancy for 
shortening names with little regard for the owner’s de¬ 
sires. So it is not strange that Miss Theodora became 
Miss Theo; first to the children, and before long to the 
parents, and in the course of time to the school board as 
well, for she was one of the teachers in the public schools 
of the city of L-, and had held her situation for sev¬ 
eral years to the satisfaction of all concerned. Little was 
known of her family or antecedents, and little cared the 
children whom she taught. She was always so indulgent, 
so pleasant, so sympathetic that they fairly adored her, 
and it naturally followed that the parents regarded her as 
a very superior teacher. As for the school board Miss 
Theo was so quick to apprehend and adopt their methods 
and to recognize their superior wisdom and sagacity on 
all points, that they were one and all convinced that in 
her, at last, was the ideal teacher materialized. She had a 
charming way of appealing to them for advice and coun¬ 
sel that is always irresistible to the masculine soul, espe¬ 
cially when the suppliant is as charming in person as in 
manner, as was the case with Miss Theo. Not that Miss 
Theo was young, but she was more attractive than many 
a young and lovely girl. She was in the full blossom of 
womanhood, and confessed to thirty-five years, but might 
easiiy have been passed for twenty-five. Miss Theo had 
that perfect blonde hair which never shows a gray thread, 
' but in ripe old age is found to have imperceptibly changed 
into the loveliest and purest white. She had with it that 
clear complexion which defies wrinkles, and large dark hazel 
eyes, such as now and then accompany blonde hair to the 
surprise of the careless observer. Miss Theo was very fond 
of her scholars, and her manner toward them was always 
gentle and winning, but if it was a trifle more so toward 
the boys than toward the girls, she may have been entire¬ 
ly unconscious of the fact, and if the bigger the boy the 
greater the tenderness, surely that was only in accordance 
with the rule of proportion ! And if Miss Theo gave her 
friendship and confidence to the members of the board 
rather than to their respective wives, % was not at all 
strange, for they were her employers, and the opportuni¬ 
ties were greater. 
It was Mr. George Barlow, the youngest and handsom¬ 
est of the board, to whom Miss Theo first confided a bit 
of her heart history. She was sure she could trust him 
as she would a brother, so Miss Theo said, and she 
wished him to know that she looked forward to teaching 
