Celeriac, or turnip-rooted celery, is an admirable vegetable not
nearly enough grown in this country. It requires exactly the same
treatment as main-crop celery, except that it is planted on the flat
two feet apart in every way. The ground should be richly prepared,
and should be kept weeded by means of the Dutch hoe; the action of
this admirable tool results in a most excellent friable state of the
surface soil, admitting air and preventing evaporation; indeed a good
Dutch hoeing is equivalent to a thorough soaking of water. The celery
fly will attack the celeriac in exactly the same way as it does celery
proper, and the same precautions must be used against it. Celeriac
stands frost well, and may be dug as required through the autumn and
winter.
CHERVIL (_Scandix Cerefolium. Umbelliferæ_).
Sow in shallow drills a foot apart and thin to a foot in the row. Early
spring is a good time to sow; the seed will germinate all the year
round; probably a couple of sowings four months apart will provide
sufficient. The leaves are used rather sparingly in salads, and for
various flavouring purposes.
TURNIP-ROOTED CHERVIL (_Chærophyllum bulbosum. Umbelliferæ_).
This is one of the subjects whose seed must be sown as soon as ripe.
There are expedients for keeping it unspoilt until spring, but it is
better to sow in August, in drills a foot apart. Thin the plants to
three inches, and later thin again to nine inches apart.
The roots are perfectly hardy, and will be ready to use from September
onwards the year after the seed is sown.
The roots are eaten boiled in the way of parsnips.