EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 325 



istics of a celery soil. This crop requires a soil of loose texture that 

 does not pack hard around the plants. On clay soils, there is also apt 

 to be considerable trouble caused by the washing of the soil over the 

 hearts of the plants while they are small. Muck lands contain the ideal 

 physical characteristics of a celei'y soil. 



In Bulletin No. 09 of the Michigan Agricultural College, Doctor R. 

 C. Kedzie states the following regarding these soils: 



^''properties of good muck.'' 



"A comparison of these celery soils brings out the fact that except in 

 the amount of sand and silicates, the composition shows a close simi- 

 larity. 



"In a moist condition, all of these kinds of muck have a deep browm- 

 black color, the blacker the better; they are friable, easily breaking 

 between the fingers and are free from coarse fibrous material; they have 

 a pleasant earthy smell, but no acid odor and are entirely free from 

 acid reaction. When moist muck of good quality is pressed against blue 

 litmus paper so as to Avet the paper, the blue color remains and no red- 

 dening takes place. Any muck that Avill redden blue litmus ii* unfit 

 for cultivation while this acid condition remains. * * « * \]j ^i,^ 

 specimens of infertile muck that have been sent here for analysis — 

 muck that would not grow weeds even — have been of this sour class and 

 would turn blue litmus paper red very rapidly. By draining and 

 weathering such soils; b}' exposing to the action of frosts and especially 

 by application of lime, wood ashes, even leached ashes, the acid condi- 

 tion can be removed and the barren soils made to produce abundant 

 crops of a certain class." 



PREPARATION OF SOIL. 



In preparing new lands for celery, it is a general practice to grow 

 corn, potatoes or some other cultivated crop the first year on the soil, 

 to put it in as fine tilth and get it as free from weeds as possible. 

 Summer fallowing and fall plowing are also advantageous in prepar- 

 ing these new lands for celery and should be practiced when it is not 

 advisable to cultivate to crops a year before planting. If the land 

 has been cropped for a number of years, it will be advisable to build 

 up the soil before attempting to grow celery. Such lands are especially 

 apt to be of a poor texture and heavy applications of stable manure 

 should be applied to some other cultivated crop for a year or two be- 

 fore planting celery. If stable manure is not available, a crop of 

 clover or other cover crop may be grown and turned under to suppl}' 

 the nitrogen and humus which these soils require. 



When the land is grown successively each year to celery, the soil is 

 plowed as early in the spring as possible after it is dry enough to 

 work. Larger plows are generally used than on the uplands and the 

 soil should be plowed deeper, ten inches being none too much. On most 

 of the muck lands, the soil will be found too soft for discing and, 

 therefore, the spring tooth, acme or smoothing harrow must be relied 

 upon for preparing it. The plank drag or float is commonly used to 

 smooth off the land, break up the clods and pulverize the soil. The land 



