702 



CELERIAC 



CELERY 



:, 



In general, the culture is the same as for celery, ex- 

 cept that no blanching is required, since it is the en- 

 larged root that constitutes the edible part. Sow the 

 seed during the spring in a well-prepared seed-bed, pref- 

 erably in a more or less shaded location. A coldframe 

 or a spent hotbed is a good place. The seed is slow 



to germinate, and must 

 be kept well watered. 

 When the plants are 2 

 or 3 inches tall, they 

 ought to be trans- 

 planted; about 3 inches 

 apart each way is a good 

 distance to place them 

 at this handling. Later, 

 again transplant them 

 to the open ground, in 

 rows about 2 feet apart 

 and 6 or 8 inches dis- 

 tant in the row. The 

 soil should be a rich 

 light loam well supplied 

 with moisture. (The 

 seed may be 

 sown where the 

 plants are to 

 remain, and 

 thinned to the 

 required dis- 

 tance, but 

 stronger, more 

 stocky plants 

 are secured by 

 transplanting as 

 directed.) Plants 

 thus treated will 

 be ready for faU 

 and winter use. 

 If they are de- 

 sired for earlier use, the seeds may be sown in a mild 

 hotbed and transplanted to the open. 



Aside from frequent tillage, celeriac requires but 

 little attention during growth. It is a frequent prac- 

 tice with growers to remove a little of the earth from 

 about the plants after the root has become well enlarged, 

 and to cut off the lateral roots. This tends to make the 

 main root grow larger, smoother and more symmetri- 

 cal in shape. For winter use, the plants may be pro- 

 tected with earth and straw to keep out frost, or packed 

 in moist sand and placed in a cool cellar. 



The principal use of celeriac is for the flavoring of 

 soups and stews, but it is also served in several other 

 ways. It may be boiled and eaten with a white sauce, 

 like cauliflower; as a salad, either first being cooked 

 as beets or turnips, or else cut up into small pieces and 

 used raw; when boiled, sliced and served with oil and 

 vinegar, it forms the dish known as "celery salad." An 

 extract may be obtained from it which is said to have 

 medicinal properties. 



Just how long celeriac, or turnip-rooted celery, 

 has been in cultivation is unknown. Its history as a 

 garden vegetable can be traced definitely as far back 

 as the middle of the seventeenth century, although 

 writers for a century or more previous to this time made 

 references which would seem to relate to this vegetable, 

 but the identity is obscure. Its origin was probably the 

 same as that of the common garden celery, of which it 

 is doubtless a state wherein the root has become en- 

 larged and edible. This form is supposed to be the one 

 most remotely removed from the wild state. 



H. P. GOULD. 



CELERY (Apium graveolens, Linn.). Umbelliferse. 

 A major garden vegetable, grown for its blanched leaf- 

 stalks which are eaten raw and also used in cookery. 



Biennial, sometimes annual, plants: If .-stalks 6-15 



856. Celeriac trimmed for market 

 (XH); also an untrimmed root, on a 

 smaller scale. 



in. long, bearing 3 pairs and a terminal 1ft. coarsely 

 serrated and ternately lobed or divided. The fl.-stalks 

 are 2-3 ft. high, branched and leafy; fls. white, incon- 

 spicuous and borne in compound umbels; seeds very 

 small, flattened on the sides, broader than long. An 

 acrid, pungent flavor characterizes the wild plants. 



The genus Apium is variously understood. As 

 mostly accepted, it comprises some 15 or 20 species of 

 annual or perennial glabrous herbs with pinnate or 

 pinnately compound Ivs., and small greenish white fls. 

 in compound umbels; calyx-teeth wanting; petals ovate 

 or rounded. The species are distributed widely in 

 temperate regions and in the mountains in the tropics. 

 A. graveolens is the one important species to the horti- 

 culturist. Var. rapaceum is celeriac, a form or race in 

 which the crown of the plant is thickened and turnip- 

 like (see Celeriac). The wild celery plant is not stout, 

 nor are the If.-stalks thickened, as they are in the 

 domesticated races. It grows 1-2 ft. high when in 

 bloom, in marshy places near the sea, on the coasts of 

 Eu., Afr., and Asia; and it has run wild from cult, in 

 some parts of N. Amer. 



Celery probably was not cultivated until after the 

 Middle Ages, and the varieties now grown so exten- 

 sively have been developed within the past thirty-five 

 years. It is not many years since this vegetable was 

 regarded as a luxury and sold at prices that could be 

 paid only by the wealthy, but today it is one of the 

 standard vegetables and is produced in enormous 

 quantities for the city markets. The industry is often 

 highly profitable on muck areas, and thousands of 

 acres of this land are used for celery-culture in Michi- 

 gan, Ohio, New York, Florida and California. Intensive 

 market-gardeners of the North regard it as one of their 

 most profitable crops, and results are especially satis- 

 factory if the land can be irrigated. When good markets 

 are available, celery is an excellent crop to follow early 

 garden crops, such as peas, beans, beets, bunch onions, 

 radishes and other vegetables that mature in ample 

 time to allow the after-planting of celery to mature. 

 Soils that have been previously cropped the same season 

 should be manured liberally before celery is planted. 



Types and varieties. 



The methods of cultivation and handling of celery 

 depend so much on the variety that this part of the 

 subject should be discussed at the outset. Celery may 

 be classified into two general groups green varie- 

 ties, and the so-called self- 

 blanching varieties. For- 

 merly, the green kinds were 

 grown almost exclusively, 

 but commercial growers 

 soon discovered that the 

 self -blanching varieties pos- 

 sess certain cultural advan- 

 tages that make them highly 

 desirable from a business 

 point of view. They are 

 more easily blanched, and 

 this is probably the most 

 important consideration 

 when the crop is to be 

 grown for commercial pur- 

 poses. This is particularly 

 advantageous in the sum- 

 mer crop, and equally ap- 

 preciated by those who 

 plant large areas for the late 

 market. When boards are 

 used for blanching, more 

 than twice as many plants 

 may be set on an acre as 

 when green varieties are 

 employed and the crop 

 bleached with earth. It is 857. The Boston ideal. 



