side 



the 



of the beds (Fig. 395). This method is known 

 "New (lelery Culture," or Niven's method. 



Blanching. — When the weather is warm in summer 

 celery often blanches in two weeks after boards are set 

 up beside the rows, but later in the fall it takes three or 

 four weeks, and the winter varieties are often banked 

 with earth considerably longer than this and then placed 

 in celery pits, where the blanching process continues. 

 Hemlock boards an inch thick, a foot wide and 12 feet 

 long, are largely used for blanching summer celery. 

 These are placed on edge beside the rows and drawn 

 nearly together at the top, where they are held by small 

 wooden cleats. When thus placed the boards enclose 

 the entire plants, with the exception of ends of scatter- 

 ing leaves, which project above them. In market gar- 

 dens these boards are moved from one field to another 

 after the crops mature, and kept in constant use from 

 the middle of June until late in November. When freez- 

 ing weather is expected, the remaining plants of the 

 early varieties are lifted and set in beds in the field, 

 where they are enclosed on the sides and covered as 

 closely as circumstances may require with the boards. 



Late celery is blanched mainly by banking with earth, 

 the earth being thrown up against the plants at two or 

 three different times; first, the base of the bank is 

 thrown up about one foot high, the leaves being held 

 together during the operation to prevent the .soil from 

 filling in between the stalks. The top of this bank is 

 left broad and dishing so that the plants can be watered. 

 Two or three weeks later the bank is raised 8 inches or a 

 foot higher, and often it is again raised, the top of the 

 highest banks being about 3 feet above the ditches be- 

 tween the rows. The plow is used in loosening the soil, 

 but the banking is mainly done by hand. The old method 

 of growing celery intrenches (Fig. 397) in order to bleach 

 it is now entirely obsolete in this country. A well-hilled 

 field is shown in Fig. 396. 



Celery is sometimes blanched by wrapping the plants 

 in thick paper (Fig. 398), or by placing large pieces of 

 drain tile over them. 



Preparation for Market.— After pulling, the celery 

 is trimmed, then taken to the packing room, where it is 

 washed and tied in bunches, the bunches being from 3 

 to 4 inches in diameter and containing from 2 to 6 

 "heads" or plants. The root is cut to a point, as shown 

 in Fig. 399. After bunching, it is packed in cases of 

 various patterns which hold from 2 to 5 dozen bunches 

 each. A common style of celery crate, for the marketing 

 of trimmed plants, is shown in Pig. 400. Sometimes 

 celery, especially the early crop and for nearby markets, 

 is not trimmed at the roots ; but the roots are left intact, 

 the plant washed and stripped of its dead and broken 

 leaves and then shipped in a tray which holds water. 

 Fig. 401 shows Niven's tray, used for this purpose. This 

 tray or crate will hold 24-30 roots. The sides, A A, are 

 20x40 in.; BB, 14^x40 in.; top pieces, C, l^in. wide by 

 %in. thick; posts, D, 1x1x12 in. The joints are mitered 

 and painted before nailing. The inside of the tray is 

 painted white. 



Varieties. — Not less than 50 kinds of celery, which are 

 more or less distinct, are catalogued bv American seeds- 

 men. The plants vary in size from the Paris Red Ribbed, 

 which is scarcely a foot high, to the Giant Pascal, which 

 is fully three times as tall; and in color of the foliage 

 from the deep green of the Boston Market to the 

 golden yellow of the Paris Golden and the almost pure 

 white of the White Plume. Some kinds are turnip- 

 rooted (see Celeriac), others have red leafstalks, and 

 still others are very bitter and pungent; yet all of these 

 variations seem to have resulted from high cultivation 

 and, possibly, in some cases, from crossings of the differ- 

 ent kinds. A half dozen leading types maybe described. 



Paris Golden or Golden Self-blanching. — This\nr\ety 

 was raised by M. Chemin in his market-gardens near 

 Paris, France, and it was introduced into the United 

 States about 1885. It was entirely distinct from all 

 other varieties, and it gained favor among growers rap- 

 idly. Since 1892 or 1893 it has been the leading summer 

 kind, and more generally planted in market-gardens 

 than any other. The plants are stocky, they can be 

 planted closely, conveniently blanched with boards. 



CELERY 269 



packed in small space when bunched, the bunches keep 

 remarkably well, are exceptionally attractive when ex- 

 posed for sale in the market, and the stalks are never 

 disagreeably bitter. Leaf-stalks below the lower pair 

 of leaflets 6 to 8 inches long and from IM to 1% inches 

 in circumference, generally with 9 distinct ridges and 

 13 rather small fibrovascular bundles, the latter not im- 

 bedded in green cells, the ridges flattened and the 

 furrows between them shallow; leaf-bearing part of the 

 stalk 12 to 14 inches long, with a decided constriction 

 where the lower pair of leaflets unite with it; leaflets 

 thick, sharply serrate, usually wedge shaped at the base 

 and with characteristic yellow specks, which increase in 



^-X 



398. Blanching Celery by wrappine 



numbers as the plants mature until the entire foliage 

 appears to be of a light golden hue. 



The Paris Bed Ribbed celery is a very dwarf variety, 

 having thick leaflets with yellow specks in them like the 

 Paris Golden, but the plants are smaller, not so full in 

 the centers and the leaf stalks are shaded with red. 

 Another variety of recent introduction, known as the 

 Broad Ribbed celery, is evidently nearly related to the 

 preceding kinds. The foliage shows the yellow specks, 

 the leaf stalks are large and rounded on the edges, and 

 the plants mature early, but they are open in the center. 

 Some strains of this variety have reddish leaf stalks. 



iVhite P^iime. -Introduced by Peter Henderson in 

 1884. For several years this variety was more generally 

 grown than any other kind. The plants are distinctively 



