CELERY. 217 



they are defended by branches or other coverings from 

 hard weather in winter. The Hamburgh variety is sown 

 about the same time in a well-trenched soil, in drills a foot 

 apart, and it is thinned to about nine inches in the rows. 

 In the beginning of November, the roots are taken up and 

 stored in sand. 



CELERY (Apium graveolens) is a native British biennial, 

 an inhabitant of the sides of ditches near the sea. In its 

 wild state, it is of an acrid nature, and of a coarse rank 

 flavor ; but by cultivation it is improved into one of the 

 most agreeable salads. There are two principal varieties ; 

 celery, properly so called, with upright stalks and fibrous 

 or slightly tuberous roots ; and celeriac, with large turnip- 

 shaped shoots. Of the former, the principal subvarieties 

 are, the Italian, the Red Solid, and the White Solid, of 

 which the second and third are the best. 



In England, celery is usually sown at three different 

 times : on a hotbed in the beginning of March, and in the 

 open ground in March, and again in April. The seedlings, 

 when about two inches high, are pricked into rich soil, in 

 which they are allowed to stand till they be four or five 

 inches high. The first crop is defended by frames or hand- 

 glasses, and is planted wide, to admit of being lifted with 

 balls of earth adhering to the roots. Towards the end of 

 May, trenches for blanching the celery are prepared. These 

 trenches are three and a half or four feet apart, fifteen 

 inches wide at the bottom, and about a foot below the nat- 

 ural level of the surface. The soil at the bottom of the 

 trench is carefully digged and manured, and a single row 

 of plants is placed in each trench. Sometimes, when a large 

 supply is required, the trenches are made six feet wide, and, 

 after a similar preparation, rows fifteen or eighteen inches 



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