CHAPTER VI 



Planting in Field and Garden 



IN the North, the early crop should be set in the 

 open ground as soon as danger of severe frost is 

 past, or from May 10 to June 5. The later or main 

 crop plants, should be set from June 10 to July 5. 

 In the southern celery-growing belt, plant setting 

 begins in September and continues until January or 

 February, although the main planting is done dur- 

 ing September and October. It is often possible to 

 select a cloudy or rainy time for setting the plants, 

 but if the weather is dry, with no indications of 

 showers, the plants should be set late in the day in 

 order that they may have the night to recuperate. 



Lifting the Plants. The plant bed should be well 

 watered several hours before the plants are lifted, 

 and as much soil as possible kept on the roots dur- 

 ing handling. If transplanted plants are being used, 

 they should be removed from the plant bed by run- 

 ning a knife blade between them in both directions 

 and then lifting with a cube of earth adhering to 

 the roots. If the plants have not been transplanted, 

 they should be loosened by means of a trowel or 

 spade and separated. Among the thriftiest plants 

 in the bed will be found all the rogues, or sports, 

 as they are commonly called, and it has often been 

 observed that where two or three plantings are 

 taken from the same bed, using the best plants each 



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