Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1858-05-07
The Vegetable Garden.


The Vegetable Garden.
CELERY.
Many. like q correspondent IN the RuR,L
Of March g5th, find celery much injured by
rla, while others complain on digging, a
portion !. found to bo rotten. Now for
these evils there isno specific, and 80 the
SOS offered by q" Celery " will not be claim
ci. Bat. with proper ears in earthins up,
these thing will not, undor ordinary cir
cumstanccs, b, very troublesome. II tho
earth for blancbins is thrown cireles.ly
around the plants, and slm, Of the loose,
struggling leaves are broken down and en-.
entirely coyered, or the earth gets into the
heart Of the plant, rottins will b, the in.
cvitablc consequences. BItifthe Struggling
outside leaves are taken oG, and each plant
is hold together firmly by the hand, or tied,
during the operation Of carthins. rotten
celery will b, scarce. Celery IN a light +,
sandy soil, II clrihsi up when lamp i, very
liable to rust Tho best security i, To earth
up in dry weather. and II a iew dry forc.,
leave, ara placed around the plants before
earthin;, the evil will be greatly lc,,'nci,
II not entirely overcome.
Tho time Of clrthins is a matter Of some
consequence. II done too early. the growth
Of the plant !. injared, and the leai-stlks
are kept too long in contact with the soil /;
II too late the plants will assume strag-
Cling form. aud the efTrrt to bring them in.
to shape Tor carthins will break and injure
thcm, often causing rot. In our directions
for cultivation, we recommended that tho
earth SHOULD be kept drawn up to the plani,.
and great care should bo exercised 10 keep
the leaf stalks erect. Supposins the work
thus f,r to have been veil done. in Scp,cm-
Der the celery trenches will have very ano
appearance. and blanchius nav commence.
IL i, impossible TO st the precise time, rs II
the weather i, hot and .ummcr.lkC 1t is
well 70 delay until cooler. The first earth
ing should be about six inches, Well pull.
ycrits the soil, aud draw il up carefully
around the stems, bat not 80 high as to
allow it to ct into the centre Of the plant,
or it will cause roto rust. Then throw up
a spAdeiul Of manure on each sid,, anl the
celery trench will thus become an cmbank-
nent. EIrthlns must be continued as the
plants grow, ba, Judgment mus, be the
guide in this operation. Let everything be
done carefully and neatly.
Raising celery On large scale, for market,
has not always bscn successful, and the
principal failure has been caused by attempts
TO get along with too little labor. For in.
stance, we have the earIhins up done with
the plow. and ,hi, Is very likely to throw
the earth over the plants - As TO bury por'
tions Of them, aud among the leaf stalks,
rotting i, very likely to follow. CrTuLL,
IA Market Gardening Arouni London, says
=" The operation Of earthins is performed by
the market gardeners entirely with the
spade" We have seen the plow usci Tor
carthing near Philadelphia. aud We think
tha, this is the practice with large growers
for market. The following is the system
recommended by a successful Scotch gard
ner -" Two boards VI 0 inches in depth.
aud as long as may DO conveniently used
are placed cdscways between tho rows, each
board resting agains, the plants in either
row, 50 as 10 form at once space Tor the re-
ceptlon Of the mould, and u protection u
the leaves whilst the operation Of earthing
is being performed. When the required
quantity OF soil has been deposited, tho
boards are carefully withdrawn. and placed
betwixt the d, xt two rows AMI 80 the work
proceeds, until all has been completed.
When the soil is OF very wet, tenacious
character, dry ashes, fine mould. or other
material, can readily bo introduced next tho
plants, for which purpose double boards,
properly adjusted and fixed to each other,
form ready medium by which to intro
duco the material. When sufficient blanch-
Ing material has been deposited, the boards
are carefully withdrawn, aud placed in the
opposite row and 1t will be readily under
stood that the fine mould which has passed
through the vacuum formed between the
boards will Lc in immediate connection with
the leaves OF the plants, IN common earth
placed in the centre Of the row enabling 1t
to maintain that position. These boards
can Of course be set to any required distance
apart, that distance being determined by
the quantity Of blanching material at COM
mand.
CrLrRr-TnE SEEp BED. In the spring
of 1856, followed precisely the directions
given IN your paper OF March a7th, IN regard
to sowing cslery. Covered the seed evenly,
half an inch deep, with fine .oll, and water
ed occasionally, but the plants did not ap-
pear. The next spring, tried some Of the
same sscd again, giving less covering, but
without success, until sOwcd 1t on the sur
face Of moist fresh earth and gave no cover !
ing at all. A few warm, showcry days
following, my plants came up finely. The
seeds ara very minute and cannot grow up-