50 MAINE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 



If banking with earth is to be practiced, one of the machines 

 made for that particular purpose will be found of advantage. 



Celery intended for winter market is not usually blanched 

 before putting into storage, though it is well to hill it up, to 

 straighten up the leaves and make the plants compact. That 

 intended for late fall use will of course need some attention, as 

 from four to six weeks are required to blanch the later crop. 

 For use before hard freezing occurs, the blanching may be done 

 with boards, but for later use earth is to be preferred. 



STORAGE. 



If on well drained soil, the plants may be left in the rows till 

 the last of November, by having some litter at hand to apply in 

 case of hard freezing. It should be remembered, however, that 

 if the plants are well banked, a little freezing of the tips of the 

 leaves will do no harm, and the mistake is often made of 

 applying winter protection too early and thus injuring the crop 

 by keeping it too warm. 



For winter storage the method in vogue in some celery- 

 growing districts is to make, on well drained soil, beds of four 

 to six double rows of plants with a wall of dirt between. Bank 

 up on the outside till the tips of the leaves just show above the 

 surface of the bed. Leave the bed in this condition till hard 

 freezing begins, then throw two or three inches of soil over the 

 surface. Let this soil freeze hard before applying litter, and 

 never apply heavy covering at the first approach of cold weather. 

 The soil in the bed is still warm, and if a heavy coat of manure 

 is put on the top, the frost is soon taken out of the surface soil 

 and the temperature will be high enough to induce decay. The 

 secret of success in the winter storage of celery is to keep cool. 

 As the severe weather of winter approaches, the covering of litter 

 may be increased unless there is a fall of snow. 



To open the beds, take the litter off from one end, break the 

 crust of soil with a pickaxe, and remove any desired amount of 

 the celery. Then carefully replace the covering. This plan 

 has the merit of cheapness, and for holding plants through the 

 winter is preferable to storage in a pit or cellar. 



If the crop is to be disposed of as early as January, it may be 

 stored in a cool cellar or pit. In this case the plants are set 



