CELERY 



CELSIA 



709 



will be injured. Holding too long in the bank will 

 result in a wilted and "punky" product. 



Harvesting and shipping. 



When the celery is ready to harvest, a cutting 

 machine is used which cuts off the plants just below 

 the crown, leaving a few roots attached. The plants 

 are then lifted and shaken from soil, trimmed and 

 thrown in piles by laborers, who are usually Japanese. 

 Another gang of men then place the plants in crates, 

 marking on each crate the number of dozens it contains. 

 More men follow, nail the crates securely, load them 

 on wagons which transport them to the railroad siding, 

 where they are ready for shipment and distribution to 

 the various markets in the United States and Canada. 



The celery is packed in the fields in crates 22-by-24- 

 inch base and 18 to 24 inches in height, according to 

 the quality. One of these crates holds from five to ten 

 dozen celery plants. An ordinary car holds from 160 

 to 165 of these crates. The shipping of the crop starts 

 in October and continues through March, but the bulk 

 of the crop is harvested during November, December 

 and January. The earlier shipments come into com- 

 petition with celery from Michigan and other middle 

 western states, and the later shipments come into com- 

 petition with celery from Florida. A very efficient 

 system of marketing has been developed by means of 

 various associations of the growers which have repre- 

 sentatives in the leading markets in the United States 

 so that the celery is shipped to points of greatest 

 demand. 



Enemies. 



The most important disease in California is the late 

 blight (Septoria petroselini var. apii), which has done 

 an immense amount of damage in the past but is now 

 handled successfully by most of the growers. Spray 

 with bordeaux mixture. For early blight (Cercospora 

 apii) keep plants growing thriftily and spray with 

 bordeaux. (For a detailed account of the diseases of 

 celery in California see Bulletin No. 208, published by 

 the University of California.) STANLEY S. ROGERS. 



CELMISIA (a name in mythology). Compdsitx. 

 More than 40 New Zealand perennial herbs, and 1 

 in Austral, and Tasmania, some of which may be 

 expected in botanic gardens and collections. Lvs. 

 radical and in rosettes, or densely imbricated if borne 

 on the sts., usually tomentose: heads large and solitary 

 on a long or short scape, with imbricate pubescent or 

 glandular bracts in several or many series; rays in a 

 single row, always white. The celmisias are charac- 

 teristic plants of New Zeal., covering the mountain 

 slopes and valleys, especially in the South Isl., with the 

 showy daisy-like fls. Probably none is regularly in cult. 



L. H. B. 



CELOSIA (Greek, kelos, burned; referring to the 

 burned look of the flowers in some species). Amaran- 

 tacese. COCKSCOMB. Popular garden annuals, grown 

 for the showy agglomerated flower-heads and sometimes 

 for colored foliage. 



Alternate-leaved annual herbs, the Ivs. entire or 

 sometimes lobed, mostly narrow: fls. in dense terminal 

 and axillary spikes, the spikes in cult, forms becoming 

 densely fascicled and often the sts. much fasciated; 

 perianth very small, 5-parted, dry, the segms. oblong or 

 lanceolate, erect in fr.; stamens 5, the filaments united 

 at base: fr. a circumscissile utricle, with 2 to many 

 seeds. About 35 species, all tropical, in Asia, Afr. and 

 Amer. 



There are two main types of celosias, the crested 

 form and the feathered or plumy ones. The crested 

 cockscomb is very stiff, formal and curious, while the 

 feathered sorts are less so, and are used to some extent 

 in dried bouquets. The plumy sorts are grown abroad 

 for winter decoration, especially under the name of C. 



pyramidalis, but to a small extent in America. The 

 crested cockscomb is less used as a summer bedding 

 plant than formerly, but it is still commonly exhibited 

 in pots at small fairs, the object being to produce the 

 largest possible crest on the smallest plant. 



For garden use, the seeds are sown indoors in early 

 spring, and the plants set out May 1 to 15. If the roots 

 dry out, the leaves are sure to drop off. The cockscomb 

 is a moisture-loving plant, and may be syringed often, 

 especially for the red-spider, which is its greatest enemy. 

 A light, rich soil is needed. 



A. Spikes crested, monstrous. 



cristata, Linn. COCKSCOMB. Fig. 867. Height 9 in. 

 or more: st. very glabrous: Ivs. petiolate, ovate or some- 

 what cordate-ovate, acute, glabrous, 2-3 in. long, 1 in. 

 wide: spikes crested, subsessile, often as wide as the 

 plant is high: seeds small, black, shining, lens-shaped. 

 Tropics. Gn. 13, p. 231. R.H. 1894, p. 58. There are 

 8 or 9 well-marked colors in either tall or dwarf forms, 

 the chief colors being red, purple, violet, crimson, 



867. Celosia cristata. 



amaranth and yellow. The forms with variegated Ivs. 

 often have less dense crests. A. japdnica, Mart., little 

 known to botanists, is said to be a distinct garden plant 

 with branching, pyramidal habit, each branch bearing 

 a ruffled comb. 



AA. Spikes plumy, feathery, or cylindrical. 



argentea, Linn. Taller than the above: Ivs. shorter- 

 stalked, narrower, 2-2% in. long, 4-6 lines wide, linear- 

 lanceolate, acute: spikes 1-4 in. long, erect or drooping, 

 long-peduncled, pyramidal, or cylindrical. India. 

 This species is considered by Voss (in Vilmorin's Blu- 

 mengartnerei) to be the original one from which the 

 crested forms are derived. He makes 9 botanical forms, 

 to one of which he refers C. cristata. The range of 

 color is even greater in the feathered type than in the 

 crested type. The spikes are very various in form and 

 habit. Various forms are shown in Gn. 6, p. 513; 9, p. 

 149; 17, p. 331 (all as C. pyramidalis). R.H. 1857, p. 

 78, and 1890, p. 522 (as C. pyramidalis). 



Huttoni, Mart. Height 1-2 ft. : habit bushy, pyram- 

 idal: st. sulcate-striate: Ivs. reddish or crimson, 

 lower ones lanceolate, subsessile: spikes red, cylindrical, 

 oblong, obtuse, lj/6 in. long; perianth-segms. oblong 

 (not lanceolate, as in C. argentea). Java. A foliage 

 plant, and less common than the 2 species above. 



C. spicata, Hort.=(?). Not the C. spicata, Spreng. ; perhaps 

 some form of C. cristata. C. Thdmpspnii magnified, Hort., is a trade 

 name and apparently without botanical standing. 



WILHELM MILLER. 



CELSIA (Olaus Celsius, 1670-1756, a Swedish ori- 

 entalist). Scrophulariacese. Herbs, with yellow fls. in 

 terminal racemes or spikes, closely allied to Verbascum, 

 but has only 4 stamens, and they are of 2 sorts. About 

 40 Old World species, mostly from the Medit. region. 



