272 



CELERY 



CELTIS 



plant-cloth protection against the bright sunlight and 

 frequent winds that prevail during April and May in 

 this latitude. Close watching and spraying twice each 

 day will bring the seed up, and, after the fourth leaf 

 is well started, the cloth is removed for a few hours 

 toward night each day until the plants are 2 inches 

 high; then the cloth is removed during the night after 

 May 10, and the plants are hardened. 



Prom 20,000 to 30,000 plants are set on an acre. In 

 sixty days plants are large enough to blanch for the 

 early market. Pine boards 1 foot wide, 1 inch thick, 10 

 feet long, dressed on both sides, are placed against the 

 celery on both sides of the plants, and are held in an 

 upright position by a piece of wire bent at each end so 

 as to form a double hook. The lumber excludes the 

 light, inducing the heart of the plant to grow rapidly 

 and blanch at the same time, and in 15 to 18 days 

 after the lumber is put up, the celery is ready to 

 market. Lumber induces a taller growth, but the flavor 

 is not quite as tine as that blanched with earth. The 

 lumber is safer for early blanching for the reason that 

 the disease commonly called rust is liable to attack the 

 stalks if earth is used before September 10. Earthing 

 up becomes a necessity after September 20, as frost may 

 appear any night after this date and damage the crop 

 where the lumber is used, while that with the earth up 

 to it is protected. The process of earthing up with a 

 spade is seldom seen nowadays, as there are banking 

 plows with attachments that push the leaves into an 

 upright position and turn the earth up at the same time, 

 one horse handling the plow very easily. 



In harvesting the crop, leading growers have washing 

 machinery to clean and cool the stalks, which adds to 

 its keeping qualities during transit and delivery from 

 market to the consumer. Great pains is taken to sort 

 and grade the different sized roots, bind them into 

 bunches, and pack them into neat new packages made 

 for the purpose. Large quantities are marketed from 

 September 20 to October 20, to save the expense of stor- 

 ing in the winter houses, as the loss in those is liable to 

 be great from evaporation, disease and consequent de- 

 cay. California and Florida shipments come in Novem- 

 ber, and all through the winter months the leading 

 markets are supplied with this appetizing vegetable. 



The popular varieties are : First, the White Plume, 

 which is early and makes a very fine appearance, quality 

 medium; and next the Dwarf Golden Heart, which is a 

 little later but much hardier than the former, also pos- 

 sessing much better flavor. The best for winter use are 

 the old reliable Boston Market and its half brother, the 

 Giant Pascal. These two, when grown to perfection, are 

 good keepers and of excellent quality. 



E. J. HOLLISTER. 



CELOSIA (Greek, kelos, burned ; referring to the 

 burned look of the fls. in some species). Amarantacece . 

 COCKSCOMB. The genus containing the common Cocks- 

 comb of old-fashioned gardens has about 42 species, all 

 tropical and mostly annual herbs, with alternate, entire 

 Ivs. narrowed into a petiole, various in form, and with 

 fls. borne in dense spikes. 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 com- 

 monly 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 1-15. If the 

 roots dry out the Ivs. are sure to drop off. The Cocks- 

 comb 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. Height 9 in. or more ; 

 stem very glabrous : Ivs. petiolate, ovate or somewhat 

 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, amaranth and 

 yellow. The forms with variegated Ivs. often have less 

 dense crests. A. Japonica, Mart., little known to bota- 

 nists, is said to be a distinct garden plant with branch- 

 ing, 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, 46 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 Blumen- 

 gartnerei), 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, as one form has whitish fls. The spikes are very 

 various in form and habit. Various forms are shown in 

 Gn. 6, p. 513 ; 9, p. 149 ; 17, p. 331. R.H. 1857, p. 78 and 

 1890, p. 522. 



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

 midal : stem sulcate-striate : Ivs. reddish or crimson, 

 lower ones lanceolate, subsessile : spikes red, cylindri- 

 cal, oblong, obtuse, 1%* in. long: perianth segments ob- 

 long (not lanceolate, as in C. argentea). Java. G.C. 

 1.32:214. A foliage plant, and less common than the 

 two species above. \y_ ]yj 



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

 ist). Scrophularidcece. Herbs, with yellow fls. in termi- 

 nal racemes or spikes, closely allied to Verbascum, but 

 has only 4 stamens, and they are of two sorts. There are 

 many species. Only C. Cretica, Linn.f., is known in 

 Amer., and' that very sparingly. It is a hardy or half- 

 hardy biennial, with alternate Ivs., of which the lower 

 are pinnate and the upper toothed and clasping : fls. 

 large and rotate (nearly 2 in. across), yellowish, with 

 dark markings in the center and conspicuous deflexed 

 stamens. Stout, hairy plant, 3-6 ft. high, from Crete. 

 B.M. 964. 



CELTIS (ancient Latin name). Urticacea. NETTLE 

 TREE. Trees or shrubs : Ivs. alternate, petiolate, stipu- 

 late, deciduous or persistent, usually oblique at the base 

 and 3-nerved : fls. polygamous-monoecious, inconspicu- 

 ous, apetalous, 4-5-merous, staminate in small clusters, 

 pistillate axillary and solitary : fr. a 1-seeded, small 

 drupe, edible in some species. Sixty species in the tem- 

 perate and tropical regions of the northern hemisphere, 

 of which few hardy ornamental species are cultivated; 

 they are valuable as shade trees or as single specimens 

 on the lawn, mostly with wide spreading head and light 

 green foliage, which is rarely seriously injured by insects 

 or fungi; they thrive in almost any soil and even in dry 

 situations, they are of vigorous growth when young, and 

 are easily transplanted. The straight-grained wood is 

 light and elastic, easily divided, and much used for the 

 manufacture of small articles and for furniture; that of 

 C. australis is valued for carving. Prop, by seeds, sown 

 after maturity; also by layers and cuttings of mature 

 wood in fall ; rarer kinds are sometimes grafted on 

 C. occidentalis. 



A. Lvs. entire, or rarely with few teeth, thin, 

 at length glabrous. 



Mississippi6nsis, Bosc (C. Icevigdta, Willd. C. integri- 

 folia, Nutt.). Tree, 60-80 ft.: Ivs. unequally rounded or 

 cuneate at the base, oblong-lanceolate or ovate, acumi- 

 nate, usually falcate, smooth above. 2-4 in. long : fr. 

 orange-red, nearly globular, Kin. thick, on slender pedi- 

 cel, longer than the petiole. From S. Illinois to Texas 

 and Florida, west to Missouri. S. 8.7:318. G.F. 3:41, 

 figs. 9-11. Mn. 7: 225, 227. Var. reticulata, Sarg. Lvs. 

 smaller, ovate, usually cordate, rough above. S.S. 7:319. 



AA. Lvs. serrate. 

 B. Foliage scabrous above, membranaceous , more or 



less pubescent. 



occidentalis, Linn. Large tree, occasionally 120 ft.: 

 Ivs. oblique and rounded at the base, ovate, acuminate, 

 pubescent when young, light green, 2-4 in. long : fr. 



