70 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [P. D. 4. 



and is very popular among the Philadelphia growers. The 

 Giant Pascal probably heads the list in regard to quality, but 

 with us is a poor keeper, and on account of extreme brittleness 

 is more expensive to handle. 



French's Success, introduced a few years ago by the Joseph 

 Harris Seed Company, is one of the most uniform varieties of 

 celery we have ever handled. It is a slow-growing, compact 

 variety, and should be planted earlier than some of the taller 

 growing kinds. It is the best keeping variety we have ever 

 tried, and is very full hearted. I have counted as high as 

 fourteen shoots starting in the heart, while in the Giant Pascal 

 only two or three would be visible. The quality is good, but 

 not equal to Giant Pascal. We have found this variety best 

 adapted to our conditions. 



The seed for the early crop is sown about March 1. I prefer 

 to sow celery seed in solid beds rather than in flats. The soil is 

 sterilized by saturating it with a solution of formaldehyde, 2 

 quarts to 50 gallons of water. And, on the principle of "mak- 

 ing assurance doubly sure," we sterilize the seed by washing it 

 in a solution of 2 ounces copper sulphate to one-half gallon of 

 water. When the rough leaf appears the seedlings are trans- 

 planted 1^ inches apart in flats, and are kept in the greenhouse 

 until they begin to grow nicely. Before shifting to the cold 

 frames they are given a thorough spraying with Bordeaux 

 mixture, and are also sprayed two or three times while in the 

 frames. Celery plants should be kept growing nicely, without 

 a check; ventilate freely and avoid too much water. Do not 

 attempt to harden them as you would cabbage plants, but 

 treat them more as you would tomato plants. They are not set 

 in the field until the latter part of May or the first of June. 



When the celery is large enough to bleach, the boards are 

 hauled in the field, two adjacent rows are put up, then we skip four 

 or six rows, put up two more, and so proceed. When the celery 

 is bleached the boards are taken down and put up to the adjacent 

 rows. Before the war we used the following fertilizer per acre: 

 400 pounds soda, 600 tankage, 600 acid phosphate, and 400 potash. 



It is customary to plant late celery after some early crop, as 

 beets, cabbage or spinach. But where land is available, or 

 where irrigation has not been installed, it is a good plan to 



