Although the rest of the potato patch was cultivated by the horse, Peter used the hoe.  He could not plough, for Peter was a rather small boy for his age and not very muscular.  The secret of potato culture is to cultivate well and keep the bugs down.

He dug his potatoes about the middle of June.  From the one quarter acre his grandfather had lent him for his garden Peter dug seven bushels of potatoes.  At the time new potatoes were selling for $1.25 per bushel.  His father bought three bushels and the other four were sold in the city to Philip’s mother and friends.

The constant working of the soil for potato culture gets it into a fine mellow condition exactly right for celery.  Peter’s grandfather suggested that the boy put this in, and so have another crop, a fall one.

Although this soil had been well fertilized in the spring for the potatoes this was yet not sufficient for celery culture.  Celery ought to be started either indoors in flats, or in a hothouse or seed bed late in February—­transplanted to other flats, and again finally to the open ground.

To prepare for the celery trenches were dug three feet apart and one foot wide.  The earth thrown out in trench digging was piled between the ditches to be used later in banking up the celery.  These trenches were six inches deep.  In the bottom of the trench was put some enriched manure.  This was of different materials.  Peter used well-rotted barnyard dressing, a little hen manure, and about the same quantity of chemical fertilizer.  Hen manure is rich, so he did not use the bulk of that.  Over this was put an inch of soil.

Celery plants should be set about six inches apart in the trench.  First cut them back; that is, cut off about one quarter of the root and one-third of the top.  This cutting back increases the spread of root-growth later and decreases the amount of respiration of water from the leaves.  The top alone grows more stocky and bulky.

Firm the plants well.  That is, press the soil firmly about the roots and stalk.  When the plant has received its growth it must be blanched.  This process not only whitens celery, but also takes the bitter taste out of it.  This may be done in various ways, but Peter used the earth process.  He tied the bunches up together with bits of raffia.  This was done merely to keep the earth from pressing in between the stalks.  Then the earth which had been left in between the trenches was drawn up with the hoe about the stalks until only the top leaves poked out above.  Do not do all this banking at once.  Take several days at it.  Boards may be placed along the sides of the banked celery hills.