We know of no vegetable which requires more care and skill in its
cultivation, from beginning to end, than celery. An inexperiened hand
will be apt to fail in planting his seed, fail in preparing the
trenches, and fail in earthing up the plants and bleaching them. And
yet, celery is so generally a favorite that every family desires it,
and every gardener is willing to cultivate it.
SEED SOWING.—The seed is exceedingly slow in germination, and, if not
assisted artificially, will lie three and sometimes four weeks without
sprouting. We soak the seed in water, (a solution of oxalic acid would
be much better), for twenty-four hours: turn off the water, and then
add and stir up a few handfuls of sand, well moistened, and let the
seed stand in a stove room or other warm place, for two or three days.
The sand will now be nearly dry; if it be not, add dry sand to it
until it is perfectly powdery, and can be sown without falling in
lumps. Besides hastening its germination, mixing the seed with sand
enables the operator to sow it with greater facility and evenness.
Select a _shaded_ spot, let the earth be rich, rather inclined to
moisture, and perfectly mellow. Sow the seed broadcast, and cover
_very thinly_ by sifting over it finely pulverized mold. Beat the bed
gently with the back of the spade to settle the earth firmly about the
seed. Don’t fear that the seed will be troubled by beating; every seed
should have the earth pressed to it by a smart stroke of the hoe,
hand, spade, or by the pressure of a roller. If the weather is
exceedingly warm and dry, cover your seed-bed with matting or old
carpet, to retain the moisture. When up let them be well weeded, until
they are six inches high, when they are to be removed to the trench
for blanching.
FIRST TRANSPLANTING.—The process here detailed may be wholly omitted
by those who are _obliged_ to economize time and labor. But those who
wish to do the very best that can be done—who wish to avoid spindling,
weak plants, and secure strong and vigorous ones—transplant their
celery to a level bed of very rich soil, placing the plants four
inches apart every way. They are cultivated here for about five weeks,
when they will have attained a robust habit, or, technically, they
will have became _stocky_—for which purpose they were thus
transplanted.
CELERY TRENCHES.—Dig your trenches about eighteen inches wide, and one
foot deep, laying a shovelful of dirt alternately on each side of the
trench, that it may be conveniently drawn in on both sides when you
_earth up_. If you are favored with a very deep and rich loamy soil,
such as often abounds in Western gardens, you will need little or no
manure. But usually about four inches of _vegetable mold_ and very
_thoroughly rotted_ manure, should be placed in the bottom of the
trench and gently spaded in. No part of the culture is more critical
than manuring. If the soil is slow, poor, and stingy, the celery will
be dwarfish, tough and strong. On the other hand, if you employ new,
rank, fiery manure, although you will have a vigorous growth, the
stalks will be hollow, watery, coarse and flavorless. Let the manure
be very thoroughly decayed and mixed half and half with leaf or
vegetable mold.
Set the plants five inches apart, water them freely with a fine rosed
watering pot, and, if the sun is fierce, cover the trenches daily from
ten A.M. till evening with boards. In about a week they will begin to
grow and will need no more shading.
Let them alone, except to weed, until the plants are from twelve to
fifteen inches high—at which time they are to be earthed up.
EARTHING UP.—In dry weather, with a short, hand-hoe, draw in the earth
gently from each side and bring it up carefully to the stalk. The soil
must be kept _out of the_ plant, and it is best for the first and
perhaps the second time of earthing, to gather up the leaves in the
left hand, and holding them together, to draw the earth about them.
Fill in about once in two weeks, and _always when the plants are dry_.
When the trench is full, the process is still to go on, and at the
close of the season your plants will be exactly reversed—instead of
standing in a trench they will top out from a high ridge.
SAVING CELERY IN WINTER.—Three ways may be mentioned. Letting it stand
in the trench—in which case it should be covered with long straw and
boards so laid over it that it will be protected from the _wet_, which
is supposed to be more prejudicial to it than mere cold.
The Boston market gardeners dig it late in autumn, trim off the
fibrous roots, cut off the top, lay it for two days in an airy shed,
turning it, say twice a day, and then pack it in layers of perfectly
_dry_ sand, in a barrel. After laying two days to air it goes into the
barrel much wilted, but regains its plumpness, and comes out as fresh
as from the trench.
Lastly, it may be put in rows on the cellar bottom, without trimming,
and earth heaped up about it. Set a plank at an angle of forty-five
degrees and bank up the earth against it, set a row of roots and cover
them with dirt, then another row and so on.
_Solid_ celery is not a particular variety—any celery is solid when
properly grown—and if grown too rankly the most _solid_ celery in the
world will be hollow.
We have seen it recommended to water the trenches once or twice during
the season with a weak brine of salt and water. Besides the
fertilizing effect of salt, it will have the effect of retaining
moisture in the soil, and what is of yet more moment, it destroys the
parasitical fungus (_Puccinca Heraclei_) which attacks and rusts the
plant, and probably would, also, guard it against a maggot which is
apt to infest and very much injure it. There is an insect, which, in
very dry weather, is apt to sting the leaf and cause it to wilt. While
the dew is on in the morning, sift lime over the plants once or twice,
and it will check the fly.
If any think these directions too minute and the process vexatious,
they are at liberty to try a cheaper method—and may, once in a while,
succeed. But a certain crop, year by year, cannot be expected without
exact and very careful cultivation. We have learned this by sorrowful
experience.
The main crop of celery need not be placed in the trenches until the
middle of July or the first of August. It’s greatest growth will be in
the fall months.
* * * * *
SEEDLING TREES.—Many trees which are entirely hardy when grown, are
very tender during the first and second winters. Cover them with
straw, refuse garden gatherings, leaves, etc. Sometimes it is best to
raise them and _lay them in by the heels_, by which those gardeners
designate the operation of laying trees in trenches or excavations,
and covering the roots and a considerable portion of the stems. This
will not be extra labor in all cases when the young trees are to be
reset, at any rate, the second year in nursery rows.