BLANCHING CELERY 137 



set pkints in the earth and necessitate much hand labor in digging 

 them out, and that some difficulty is experienced in properly 

 cultivating the plants in the bottom of the trench. However, 

 this latter difficulty is not serious if the trench is not over six 

 inches deep, for in that case a double v^heel hoe, equipped with 

 two narrow cultivator teeth, can be run astride the row. As the 

 plants grow, the trench is gradually filled with earth during the 

 process of cultivating. 



In irrigated regions of the West, celery is sometimes planted 

 in double rows, with one row on each edge of the irrigation furrow. 

 Following an irrigation, the soil in the furrow is broken up by 

 means of an especially constructed cultivator drawn by one horse 

 walking midway between two double rows. Two men are re- 



FiG. 82. — A Michigan celery field. Blanching the early crop with boards. 



quired to guide the cultivator since there are two sets of shovels 

 and handles for cultivating two double rows at a time. 



Blanching Celery. — Whether grown in trenches or on the level, 

 the celery must be blanched. This is accomplished by excluding 

 the light from the growing celery. The early crops are usually 

 blanched by setting up boards on either side of the row, but the 

 late crop is ordinarily banked up with earth. The reason for 

 blanching the early crop with boards rather than earth is that 

 banking with earth in warm weather is likely to cause the celery 

 to rot. Only varieties that blanch with comparative ease, known 

 as self-blanching varieties, are used for the early crop, since these 

 sorts alone can be satisfactorily blanched with boards. Boards 

 twelve inches wide and twelve or fourteen feet long are used. 



