Celery, a variety of the Apium graveolens, L. originally denomi-nated smallage, or parsley. The root, in its wild state, is thick and fibrous ; its bushy stalk attains the height of two or three feet, and bears yellow flowers in August : it grows in ditches and salt-marshes, is fetid, acrid, and noxious; but, when when cultivated in dry ground, it is divested of those qualities, and then called Celery.

There are two remarkable varie-ties of this vegetable : 1.1 shrubby celery, which is raised from seed; it should be sown at two or three different times, in order to preserve it the better for use during the season, without running up to seed. The first sowing ought to be in the beginning of March, on a gentle hot-bed ; the second towards the end of the same month, in an open spot of light earth, where the plant can enjoy the benefit of the sun ; and the third in the latter end of April, or the beginning of May, on a moist soil; where it may be exposed to the morning sun only, but not too near trees, as the wet occasionally dropping from their leaves tends to retard its growth.

Towards the middle of May, some of the roots of the first sowing will be fit to be transplanted into trenches for blanching. These must be cut at the distance of three feet from one another, about eight or ten inches in width, and of the same depth ; the mould dug out of them should be equally laid on each side, that it may be ready to draw in again, and to earth up the celery, as it advances in height. As soon as the trenches are made, the plants, having been previously trimmed, and the tops of the long leaves cut off, must be set in the middle of them, about four or five inches apart; care being taken to close the earth well around them, and to water them plentifully, until they have taken new root. When about half grown, the lateral fibrous roots should be carefully removed with a knife, and the earth again placed round the parent root, without burying the hearts. By repeat-ing this operation, as occasion re-quires, Mr. Kirchne, a German gardener, asserts, that he obtained celery roots of an extraordinary size. The last crop should be planted in a drier soil ; and, in or-der to prevent it from rotting in the winter, it will be necessary to cover it, when the frost is severe, with pease-haulm, or some similar sub-stance, which admits the access of air. Care should, however, be taken to remove this covering as soon as the weather becomes milder; for otherwise the celery will be apt to pipe, and run to sec d. When full blanched, this root will not continue good above three weeks or a month; hence to pre-serve it, and insure a succession of crops, it is necessary to have, at least six or seven seasons of plant-ing, proportioned to the consump-tion.

2. The bulbous celery, generally called, by gardeners, French Ce-leriac, but seldom to be met with in this country: it produces a large, knobby root, of a delicate flavour, and from three to five inches in diameter. This plant is usually sown early in the spring, on hot-beds, and afterwards transplanted into a deep, and well prepared garden soil, at equal distances of ten or twelve inches from each other, where it will thrive rapidly, if it be frequently earthed up, and watered, as it requires constant moisture. — Having been disappointed in obtaining the proper seed for this variety, instead of which, an eminent old botanist, of Covent-garden market, furnished us with that of the common fibrous-rooted, or shrubby celery ; we are led to believe, that the latter may be artificially converted into bulbous

I bous roots, by adopting the simple expedient before suggested by Kirchner. Although we have no decisive proof of this useful conversion, which might he easily applied to the improvement of many other culinary vegetables, yet there appears to be a considerable prospect of a successful re-sult in many of those plants, now vegetating in a garden at Fad-dington.

When distilled, the seeds of both, the wild and cultivated celery, pro-duce an essential oil. The roots of the former are eaten by and goats, but cows and horses re-fuse them. - As an article of food, the celery is well known, but is said to be hurtful to persons subject to nervous complaints. It is, however, considered as an excellent antiscorbutic.

The bulbous root of celeriac is much esteemed on the Continent, where it is preserved in sand for the winter, and eaten chiefly as salad. For this purpose, it is cut in slices, and soaked a few hours in vinegar: by such simple preparation, it becomes as mellow as a pine-apple, and affords a delicious, and very nourishing repast: hence it is much relished by invalids, or the aged. We doubt, however, whether it deserve the great character it has acquired among the French and Germans, for its brac-ing and restorative virtues, in C of general relaxation and nervous debility.