CELERY. 



133 



earth it is more liable to become diseased. Boards ten inch- 

 es wide are the best, but narrower boards may be used nearly 

 as well, providing the earth is first drawn towards the plants 

 for them to rest on. The plants are generally handled before 

 the boards are put on, but this is not absolutely necessary, 

 although desirable. A board should be put upon each side of 

 the row quite close to the plants and be held in place with a 

 peg. If for any reason there are vacancies in the row or the 

 plants are not close enough to exclude light from the stalks 

 when the boards are put up, the vacancies may be fillel with 

 hay or straw. For late autumn use, it is probably best to 

 bleach the plants with earth, as it also protects from frost 

 and is much cheaper than bleaching with boards when the 

 first cost of the boards and the handling of them is consid- 

 ered. In fact, almost all growers use earth to bleach their 

 late celery. 



Planting in Beds. Some growers prefer to plant the celery 

 in beds four feet wide and to have the plants set ten inches 



Fig. 67.— Celery grown in beds and earthed up to bleach. 

 apart each way in the beds: in which case a four foot path is 

 left between the beds for convenience in cultivation and weed- 

 ing. In this way a very large amount of .celery can be grown 

 on a very small piece of land. By putting boards up on both 

 sides of the paths, the plants will take on the upright form, so 

 that handling will be unnecessary. For late use the plants 



