180 



IRRIGATION FARMING. 



the leaves, holding them with one hand and pushing the 

 soil close to the plants with the other. This operation 

 must be repeated several times. When the plants are 

 desired to be bleached they must be banked up to the 

 tips of the leaves. Late celery is handled in much the 

 same manner as the early, differing from it only in three 

 or four points. The seed is sown six weeks later in a 

 well-prepared bed out of doors, and as it is intended for 

 winter and spring use it must not be banked up as much 

 as the early crop, for if it is bleached when stored away 

 it will not keep. 



The Sabula Celery Company of Iowa has been try- 

 ing a novel experiment for the irrigation of its celery 

 field, which is proving a big success in every way. The 



irrigating is done by 

 means of rows of tiling 

 laid in the ground 

 about a foot below the 

 surface. The tiling 

 cannot be placed to- 

 gether snug enough 

 FIG. 59. SECTION OF TILED CELERY BED. to be water-tight, and 

 at every coupling the water forces itself through the 

 joints. Rows of tiling are laid every twelve feet, and 

 these are supplied by a long ditch furnished with a num- 

 ber of gates which regulate the water supply, the ditch 

 being filled by a large pump, and a piece of land that 

 would ordinarily take three or four men three days to 

 irrigate may now be done in that many hours with the 

 help of these men. A drop of two feet on two acres is 

 given the tiling, and the lower end is securely closed, 

 whi^h gives the water considerable back pressure. A 

 section of this tiling is given in Figure 59. 



Of late years some gardeners are adopting what is 

 known as the new celery culture. By this method the 

 crop is planted closely, and no carting or handling is 



