CELERY. 119 



holding the plant in his left hand, packing the earth 

 around it with his right. With a little practice, this 

 operation is performed very rapidly. A double shovel 

 plow may be profitably run between the rows a few 

 times, to loosen up the soil, which is drawn toward the 

 plants as required. The finishing touch is given with 

 the spade, the earth being banked clear to the top of 

 the plants. 



That part of the crop intended for the winter mar- 

 ket is handled the same as the other, but is earthed up 

 only with the hoe, the blanching being done in the 

 trenches in which it is stored for winter. In handling 

 and earthing up, the main point is to keep the stalks of 

 the plant so close together that no soil can get between 

 them. After this "handling" is done, the plants are 

 left to grow two weeks, and are then further earthed up. 

 The bank must be made broad at the base, and the side 

 sloped up, so that they will not cave or slide. As the 

 plants grow higher the earth is dug from the center of 

 the row with a spade, and banked up against the celery. 

 The celery will be blanched in about four weeks. Cel- 

 ery can be successfully blanched in the field, between 

 boards, by adopting the following process : Tie up the 

 plants with yarn or other convenient material, and, tak- 

 ing common boards twelve inches wide, place them on 

 opposite sides of the row three inches apart, fasten them 

 there with stout pegs driven on the outside of each 

 board. The celery leaves projecting out of the top will 

 exclude the light, and the stems become white and 

 remain free from rust. The plan is the same as is pur- 

 sued in blanching endive, sea kale and asparagus. Un- 

 der this system the plants should stand close in the 

 rows, say six inches, and the rows may be closer than 

 where banking is practiced, say three feet. Celery 

 should not be banked up while the stalks are wet with 

 rain or dew. A large grower, well known to the writer, 



