CELERY. 539 



The leaf-stalks, when blanched, are used raw as a 

 salad ; they are in season from August to March in 

 the following year ; they are also used to flavour soups, 

 and sometimes are boiled as a dinner vegetable. The 

 root only of Celeriac is used. It is excellent in soups, 

 in which, whether white or brown, slices of it are used 

 as ingredients, and readily impart their flavour. With 

 the Germans it is also a common salad, for which the 

 roots are prepared by boiling, until a fork will pass easily 

 through them ; after they are boiled and become cold, 

 they are eaten with oil and vinegar. They are also 

 sometimes served up at table, stewed with rich sauces. 

 In all cases, before they are boiled, the root, and the 

 fibres of the roots, which are very strong, are cut away ; 

 and the edible part' of the root is put in cold water on 

 the fire, not in water previously boiling. 



For an early crop of Celery, the seed should be sown 

 in a hot-bed the early part of March ; and when the 

 plants are two inches high, they must be pricked out 

 under hand-glasses, where they are to remain till they 

 are six inches high. They should then be planted out 

 in trenches, preserving all their leaves, but pulling off 

 every offset or sucker which appears springing from 

 the upper part of the root. 



For the succeeding crops, the seed may be sown upon 

 a bed of rich mould in March, and again in April, where 

 the plants may remain till they are large enough to plant 

 into the trenches. In taking up the young plants, they 

 should be raised with the spade, and planted with the 

 roots entire, merely cutting off the extreme fibres, leav- 

 ing the roots at least six inches long. The second and 

 third sorts are the most valuable. 



The fourth sort should be sown upon a hot-bed, under 

 glass, in February or March ; when the plants are two 

 or three inches high, remove them to another hot-bed, 

 and prick them out two inches apart, under a hand-glass. 



