6 CELERY CULTURE 



Labor Requirements. The production of celery 

 on a commercial scale requires a large amount of 

 labor at certain times of the year, and it is nec- 

 essary to determine where this labor is to be 

 secured at the times when needed. In parts of the 

 country where lumber is scarce, the cost of the 

 boards for blanching may be prohibitive, in which 

 case it will be necessary to blanch with earth, 

 greatly increasing the amount of labor required. In 

 spite of the fact that there have been a large num- 

 ber of very satisfactory tools devised for handling 

 the celery crop, there remains considerable labor 

 that must be performed by hand. No satisfactory 

 machinery has been devised for setting the plants, 

 hoeing between the plants, putting on the finishing 

 touches in banking, cutting and trimming, or 

 bunching and packing in crates. It is true that there 

 are a number of devices intended to assist in the 

 different operations, but they cannot do the work 

 themselves. The character of the available labor 

 must also be taken into consideration, as many of 

 the operations connected with the handling of a 

 celery crop require care and skill. For the general 

 operations, such as hoeing, banking, boarding up, 

 and lifting, almost any class of labor may be em- 

 ployed, provided the helpers are arranged in gangs 

 under the direction of competent foremen. A num- 

 ber of the large growers provide that the foremen 

 shall share in the profits derived from their portion 

 of the crop, and are thus enabled to secure more 

 careful supervision. 



