246 VEGETABLE GARDENING 



plants and be held in place with a peg. If for any reason 

 there are vacancies in the row or the plants are not close 

 enough to exclude light from the stalks when the boards 

 are put up, the vacancies may be filled with hay or straw. 

 For late autumn use it is probably best to blanch the plants 

 with earth, as it also protects from frost and is much cheaper 

 than blanching with boards, when the first cost of the 

 boards and the handling of them are considered. In fact, 

 almost all growers use earth to blanch their late celery. 



Fig. 105. Celery grown in beds and earthed up to blanch. 



Planting in Beds. Some growers prefer to plant celery 

 in beds four feet wide and to have the plants set ten inches 

 apart each way in the beds; in which case a four-foot path 

 is left between the beds for convenience in cultivation and 

 weeding. In this way a very large amount of celery can be 

 grown on a very small piece of land. By putting boards 

 up on both sides of the paths, the plants will take on the 

 upright form, so that handling will be unnecessary. 



