CELERY 239 



CELERY (Apium graveolens) 



Description. Native of Europe. A biennial. The 

 plants are grown for the fleshy leaf stalks, which are very 

 tender when blanched ; one form is also grown for the large, 

 fleshy roots. The whole plant has a pleasant aromatic 

 flavor. The seed stalks are branching and grow from 

 two to three feet high, and have very small yellowish or 

 greenish flowers in compound umbels. The seed is small, 

 triangular, and five-ribbed, and has the characteristic 

 aromatic flavor of the plant. 



Celery is a crop that is very liable to suffer from the 

 want of rich, nitrogenous manures and from a superabun- 

 dance or a lack of moisture in the soil. On this account 

 it should be grown on retentive yet well-drained, rich 

 land. Well-drained bog land with the water about eight- 

 een inches from the surface is often excellent for this 

 purpose. Barnyard manure is the best fertilizer to apply. 

 It may be applied up to fifty or sixty tons per acre, but 

 ordinarily about ten tons are used. If commercial fertili- 

 zers are to be used, they should contain a large percentage 

 of nitrogen. Nitrate of soda at the rate of 150 to 200 

 pounds per acre is sometimes applied. 



Early Celery. The seed for early celery is generally 

 sown the latter part of February or early March in boxes 

 in a greenhouse. As soon as the plants are of sufficient 

 size to handle well, they are pricked out into other boxes 

 or into hotbeds, where they remain until large enough 

 for planting out, which is sometime in May. The tops of 

 the plants should be sheared off once before they are pricked 

 out and again before they are planted to the open ground, 

 as this makes them stocky and helps them to recover from 

 transplanting. If the leaves are all left on the plants when 



