Cdcry Culture iu A lucrica 



363 



the last (which we try ahvays to defer to 15th 

 or 20th November) may be used during the 

 winter and until the ist of April. For the 

 first lot no covering is required, but that for 

 use during the winter months must be gradu- 

 ally covered up, from the middle of Decem- 

 ber on until ist of January, when it will re- 

 quire at least a foot of covering of some light, 

 dry material — hay, straw, or leaves — the lat- 

 ter perhaps the best. I have said the cover- 

 ing up should be gradual. This is very impor- 

 tant, for if the full weight of covering is put 

 on at once, it prevents the passing off of the 

 heat generated by the closely packed mass of 

 celery, and in consequence it to some extent 

 " heats," and decay takes place. Covered 



per acre. But for the last six or eight years, 

 by adopting the flat culture, and the drain or 

 trench system for winter storage, it has done 

 much better, and is now a very profitable 

 " second crop," averaging a clear profit of 

 $300 per acre, though it rarely brings over 

 83 per 100 roots. No doubt, in many parts 

 of the country, it would be much more pro- 

 fitable than in the crowded markets of New 

 York. It is shipped from here in all direc- 

 tions — to Philadelphia (largely), Baltimore and 

 Washington (South), and to Newport, Pro- 

 vidence, Hartford, and New Haven (East). It 

 is a bulky and expensive article to ship, and 

 the dealer must realize more than double on 

 the purchase or it will not pay his risk. It 



Fig. 3.— Celeiy stored for winter. 



up in this manner it can be got out with ease, 

 during the coldest weather in winter, and with 

 perfect safety. These dates of operations, 

 like all others named throughout, are for this 

 latitude ; the cultivator must use his judg- 

 ment carefully in this matter, to suit the 

 .section in which he is located. 



Regarding the profits of this crop I can 

 speak from a very extensive experience, in its 

 culture, having cultivated an average of ten 

 acres for the past eighteen years. For many 

 years, in the early part of that time, it was by 

 no means what we would now call a profitable 

 crop. By persisting in raising the large grow- 

 ing sorts, and the awkward and expensive 

 mode we had then of working it, we were 

 satisfied if it gave us a profit of 850 or $75 



must thus cost the consumer, in these towns 

 to which we send it, 8 or 10 cents a head, a 

 price at which it would pay a clear profit of 

 $1000, or 81500 per acre. 



If the awkward and laborious system of 

 cultivation, still persisted in for the growing of 

 celer)-, is a mistake, the continued use of the 

 tall growing and coarse varieties, we believe 

 to be even a far greater one. The kinds that 

 should be grown, either for private or market 

 use, are very limited. 



" Incomparable Dwarf" — This, so far, is 

 decidedly our best variety ; under good culti- 

 vation it attains a height of 2 feet, and a cir- 

 cumference of 1 2 inches ; it is perfectly solid, 

 the stalks half round, the leaves and stems 

 being rather light green. "\Mien blanched, it 



