EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 331 



be slightly raised above the walks and of a width to i)ermit convenient 

 reaching of all plants without tramping on the beds. (Fig. 5). 



The soil of the seed beds should be watered after sowing whenever 

 the surface soil appears dry but care should be exercised to prevent over- 

 watering. After the plants are up, they should be kept constantly grow- 

 ing, and watered only in the morning of bright days that the foliage 

 may become thoroughly dried before night. If the plants in the seed bed 

 appear too thick, they should be thinned as soon as possible by removing 

 the weakest plants in such a way as to leave the others well spaced. The 

 temperature of the seed-beds in the greenhouse should be kept at about 

 75 degrees during bright days and about ten degrees lower at night. Dur- 

 ing dark cloudy weather, it is advisable to keep the temperature some- 

 what lower. Ventilation should be given whenever the weather condi- 

 tions permit and the plants hardened off gradually by increasing the ven- 

 tilation until out of door temperatures may be favorably endured before 

 transplanting to the field. 



TRANSPLANTING. 



As grown in Michigan, celery plants are not usually transplanted be- 

 fore setting in the field. The advantages under existing conditions, do 

 not seem to warrant the extra labor and expense involved except when 

 a very early crop is desired or an extra fine grade wanted for a special 

 market, in which case it may prove a profitable practice. Transplanting 

 induces the formation of a well branched, fibrous root system, causing a 

 less serious check to their growth when finally planted in the field. This 

 results in a crop a little earlier and generally more uniform. When 

 practiced, the seedlings are transplanted into small pots, shallow boxes 

 or into beds, placing the plants about two inches apart. The seedlings 

 are ready for this transplanting about four weeks after seeding. 



SETTING TUB PLANTS. 



The ideal time to set the plants is just before a shower or on a moist, 

 cloudy day. In bright weather, it is preferable to set late in the after- 

 noon. On large farms, it is necessary to set during all kinds of weather 

 and at all times of the day in order to get all the plants into the ground 

 in season. Extra care, therefore, must be exercised to gain a good stand 

 of plants during bright, dry weather. The seed bed should be well 

 watered a few hours before digging and the plants carefully lifted to 

 retain a large root system. 



Where only a small acreage is to be planted, they may be dug care- 

 fully with much of the soil clinging to the roots but a commercial grower 

 can hardly afford to practice such care. The plants are usually packed 

 in shallow pans or buckets and dropped in the field from these receptacles. 

 The rows may be marked off with a line or marker if desired but since 

 it is advisable to always plant in freshly stirred soil, most growers pre- 

 fer to mark off but a short space at a time before planting and hence 

 prefer the ''shoe method." This operation consists in scuffing out a shal- 

 low furrow in the soil with one foot as a person walks up the row. Just 

 before setting the plants in the row, the soil is wet down with water ap 

 plied by hand from a large sprinkling can. If but one watering is given 

 at this time, it is considered better to water before rather than after 

 setting the plants although it is most desirable, in dry weather, to water 

 both before and after setting. 



