This
thorough preparation does not involve much labor, for the seed-bed
is small, and nothing more is required in spring but to rake the
ground smooth and fine as soon as the frost is out. The soil has
already been made mellow, and certainly nothing is gained by
turning up the cold earth in the bottom of the bed. Sow the seed
at once on the sunwarmed surface. The rows should be nine inches
apart, and about twelve seeds sown to every inch of row. The
drills should be scarcely an eighth of an inch deep. Indeed, a
firm patting with the back of a spade would give covering enough.
Since celery germinates so slowly, it is well to drop a lettuce-
seed every few inches, to indicate clearly just where the rows
are. Then the ground between the rows can be hoed lightly as soon
as the weeds start, also after heavy rains, so as to admit the
vivifying sun-rays and air. Of course when the celery plants are
clearly outlined, the lettuce should be pulled out.
If the bed is made in spring, perform the work as early as
possible, making the bed very rich, mellow, and fine. Coarse
manures, cold, poor, lumpy soil, leave scarcely a ghost of a
chance for success. The plants should be thinned to two inches
from one another, and when five inches high, shear them back to
three inches. When they have made another good growth, shear them
back again.
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