90 CULTURE OF CELERY 



brush and a pail of clean water, holding the plant upside 

 down, gently wash it. Then dip the top in another 

 pail of clean water, to wash off what dirt has rinsed 

 down, afterwards laying it carefully on a clean bench. 

 Celery should be judged by cutting down the middle, 

 so that the quality can be discerned, though if three or 

 even two sticks are shown, one only of each exhibit 

 need be cut. Do not over-trim either for exhibition or 

 market. In tbe matter of roots or plants of any kind, 

 I always prefer the soil left on rather than washed off. 

 Vegetables always keep fresh for a longer time when not 

 previously washed. Of course, for exhibition the ap- 

 pearance of the washed roots is preferred. 



Very late celery is sometimes required, especially for 

 soups, for which it is indispensable. This, if sown out- 

 of-doors in April and planted out at the end of July, 

 will require but little earthing. It is then invari- 

 ably quite hardy, and can be planted about three feet 

 apart in trenches not necessarily as rich as those already 

 described. Cooks require celery all the year round for 

 soups, and when in the spring, by the middle of April, 

 it is found growing up, it can be lifted and packed under 

 a north wall or in a cool open shed, soil being well 

 packed around it. This will carry the gardener on till 

 he can afford to supply young strong plants for flavour- 

 ing. Cooks never cease to ask for celery, and will not 

 hear of anything they require being " out of season." 



INSECT PESTS 



Celery is sometimes visited by a most destructive 

 insect called Tephrites Onopordinis, which visits the plants 

 when very young, and does a great deal of mischief. 

 The eggs are deposited on the leaf, and the larva finds 

 its way into the leaf's substance, and thus secretes itself, 



