EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 



335 



BLANCHING. 



The blanching of celery consists in excluding the light from the leaf 

 stalks while the plant continues its growth which causes the destruction 

 of the coloring matter, leaving the stalks very light colored with a mild 

 flavor and with a more crisp and tender texture. 



There are many methods that may be used to accomplish this purpose 

 but on a commercial scale, the only ones of importance practiced in this 

 state, are blanching by boards and by banking with soil. Formerly most 

 of the celery w^as blanched by the latter method but today, the method 

 employed depends largely upon the time of the year the crop is used. 

 When a crop is to be blanched during the summer months, one of the 

 self-blanching varieties is grown and the plants blanched by the use of 



Fig. 9. — Plants ready for blanching with boards placed ready for raising. 



the boards for if the soil method is used at this time, it causes the plants 

 to rust. When celery is to be blanched during the cool weather of the 

 fall, however, it is blanched by banking with soil which produces celery 

 of an excellent flavor and protects the plants from light freezes. When 

 the crop is to be stored for winter use, it will blanch in storage if the 

 temperature is not too low and will keep better if not blanched too much 

 in the field. 



BLANCHING BY THE USE OF BOARDS. 



When a crop is to be blanched by this method, sound hemlock boards 

 one inch thick, twelve inches wide, and twelve, fourteen or sixteen feet 



