CELERY 117 



easily blanched simply by spreading mats over them 

 when nearly fully developed. 



Blanching Celery. This operation has the effect of 

 excluding the light from the stems, which are thus 

 rendered sweeter and more tender by the absence or 

 non-development of the green colouring matter called 

 chlorophyll. Different methods of blanching are 

 adopted, but as the main object is the same in all 

 cases, they differ only in details. 



To blanch the earliest crops of Celery, dry leaves, 

 straw, moss, or clean litter is placed between the 

 plants where they are growing. A slender, wooden 

 frame is slid in between the rows of Celery first of all 

 so as to keep the leaves up and close together. The 

 light-excluding material is worked in between the rows 

 until about two-thirds of the stems are hidden. The 

 frame is then withdrawn and placed between other 

 rows that are to be treated in a similar manner. About 

 fifteen days after this operation the Celery stems will 

 be sufficiently blanched ; in addition, mats are often 

 thrown over the tops of the plants at the same time 

 to hasten the process. 



Some growers, instead of placing straw or litter 

 between the rows in the way described, make bands 

 of the straw and then twist them round the Celery 

 stalks from the base upwards for two-thirds of their 

 length. This is an economical but less expeditious 

 method of blanching. Other growers, again, use a 

 kind of earthenware pipe 15 to 16 in. long, and about 

 6 in. wide at the base, tapering to about 4 in. at 

 the top. The Celery stems are brought together by 

 twisting a piece of string round them spirally from 

 the bottom upwards ; a pipe is then placed over 



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