134 VEGETABLE GARDENING. 



may be taken directly from the bed to the cellar without bank- 

 ing, but it will generally be found a good plan late in the fall 

 to pack the spaces between the plants with hay or fill them 

 with earth from the paths, as they will then be protected from 

 frosts. If the celery is to be blanched in the bed, this, of 

 course, would be necessary. To grow plants so close together 

 successfully requires the utmost care in the preparation of 

 the land. It should be covered with fine rich manure, prefer- 

 ably in the spring; the plants will also require to be frequent- 

 ly and heavily watered, since the land will be full of roots. 



Digging Celery. Celery will stand many light frosts, but 

 hard freezing is liable to injure it, and it should never be 

 handled when frozen. It is seldom safe to allow it to remain 

 unprotected in the ground in this section after the middle of 

 October, but by covering the plants with straw or other 

 material they may often be safely left in the field until the 

 middle of November. The plants are generally lifted with a 

 spade after a furrow has been plowed away from the row 

 on one side. Most of the soil should be shaken off the roots 

 and the old outside leaves removed before storing. In this 

 section, to keep well, celery should be stored in a cold, moist 

 cellar or frost-proof shed. If it does not whiten quickly 

 enough, the plants may be watered and kept warm and thus 

 started into growth, which results in forming the tender white 

 shoots very quickly. 



Storing Celery. For home use a good way to keep celery is 

 to pack the plants closely together, upright, in boxes twelve to 

 eighteen inches wide, with the bottom covered with moist sand, 

 a little of which should be worked in among the roots. Tjhere 

 is no need of having sand between the plants. These boxes, 

 when packed, should be kept in a cold, damp cellar. In stor- 

 ing for market use, where there is plenty of room, the plants 

 are sometimes "heeled in" in sand on the floor; the cheapest 

 practicable way, however, is to pack them between boards 

 about nine inches apart. To do this, place the first board on 

 one side of the cellar or shed nine inches from the wall, with 

 its upper edge at a height from the floor a little less than the 

 length of the celery. The boards may be supported by stakes 

 and should not rest on the ground. In this narrow division 

 the celery should be packed upright, as described for packing 



