1895.] ESSAYS. 29 



the general introduction of the self-blanching varieties, so-called, its 

 season has been very much lengthened, as they can be had in good 

 condition by the middle of August and are on the market much earlier ; 

 but celery does not come to its best quality until the weather becomes 

 cool, and seldom is in prime rhuch before Thanksgiving. The height 

 of the season is from that time until after the first of January, when 

 it begins to drop out of general use, and while the price generally ad- 

 vances there is apt to be much more waste. 



Celery is generally considered a second crop, but ou moist land, 

 where it is difficult to put in a crop early in spring, it is becoming 

 quite common to set Paris Golden or White Plume in rows from five 

 to seven feet apart in June, and later set in Giant Pascal or Boston 

 Market between. During the months of September and October the 

 early is to be blanched with boards and taken out, and then the late 

 celery banked ; in theory this is one of the best methods of grow- 

 ing celery on moist ground, but I can say from experience and ob- 

 servation that it does not always work as well as we might wish. 

 Celery is a very rank grower in cool weather if it has plenty of 

 moisture, but does not do well generally on dryland unless artificially 

 watered. It does best on land that has been in cultivation a number 

 of years and that has been worked deep, and it seems to do well on 

 the same land year after year. 



The best celery is usually grown where the seed is sown where it is 

 to grow, but as it germinates very slowly, is very small and grows 

 slow for a long time after breaking ground and is very liable to burn 

 off, it is generally as easy to start it in the bed, where the seed is 

 generally sown about the first of April for the general crop ; for very 

 early it is put in a little earlier, but if planted too early it is liable to 

 run to seed. 



Plants set after the first of July will usually make the best celery 

 to keep, as it is much less liable to disease and is much finer grained 

 than what grows in warm weather. It can be used to follow any early 

 crop and does nicely set between every other row of early cabbage if 

 the cabbage are cleared away carefully and the ground thoroughly 

 worked, but the land must be rich and in good condition or it will not 

 be a satisfactory crop. I have had very good luck setting it after 

 strawberries, but the land must be rich and thoroughly worked. I 

 should not think of trying a crop of late celery without using fertilizer 

 liberally. In fact, we seldom plant any crop without using fertilizer, 

 and the more manure we use the more anxious we are to get a second 



