166 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Mr. Rasmussen : Never take them up until they rot and we 

 have to replace them. In the first place they were an eyesore, 

 I didn't like the looks of them. But I found out I could use them 

 longer, I found they paid for the labor. 



A Member: Does celery grow tender after a frost? 



Mr. Rasmussen : I don't know, we don't want the frost to 

 catch it. 



A Member: I generally let a couple of sharp frosts go by 

 before I pick mine, and the tops will drop down. 



Mr. Rasmussen : We are growing for the market, and they 

 wouldn't want it in that condition. I don't think it is necessary 

 to let it freeze. 



A Member : How do you store your celery ? 



Mr. Rasmussen: We don't store any, for this reason. I 

 never saw the time but what it would bring as much money in 

 the fall as it would in the winter, at least, there is not enough 

 difference to make up the loss. 



A Member: Too much extra labor and too much waste 

 when you store it ? 



Mr. Rasmussen : We can't afford to store it. 



Mr. Baldwin : I am very much in favor of cement frames. 

 I have them entirely on my place and have had them for years, 

 and I wouldn't trade my frames for all the boards there are in 

 the lumber yards of Minneapolis. I think anyone that would put 

 them in would never go back to the wood frames. With the aid 

 of shutters I can use mine all the year around. 



Mr. Rasmussen: Do you not have trouble with the water 

 running down and freezing? 



Mr. Baldwin : I don't have any trouble with that at all. 



A Member : Is celery more profitable than cucumbers ? 



Mr. Rasmussen : I think it is. 



Mr. Baldwin: It depends on where you are. If you have 

 got to pump water from a well 80 or 100 feet deep it will make 

 some difference. 



Mr. Rasmussen : My well is 240 feet deep ; it is ninety feet 

 down to water. I pump with a gasoline engine to an elevated 

 tank. 



A Member: Do you have any idea how much water you 

 use? 



Mr. Rasmussen : No, but I know it doesn't take much gaso- 

 line to run a horse and a half pump, and it doesn't take any more 

 water to grow celery in hotbeds, don't think as much, as it does 

 out in the open. We can't get good celery without watering out- 

 side. I think water is the cheapest plant food we have, even if 

 we have to pump it from a deep well. 



A Member : Do you find it necessary to shade your lettuce 

 with burlap shades practically all the time ? 



Mr. Rasmussen : No. Of course, the head lettuce when we 

 are growing it in July needs considerable shading, especially 

 after a heavy rain when the sun comes out strong. We shade it, 

 or it will start rotting. 





