142 



ing contain much larger proportions of nitrogen 

 than any of the other common elements of plant 

 food, but liberal applications of potash and phos- 

 phorus are frequently made with splendid results. 

 Top dressings of nitrate of soda may be made at 

 intervals of two or three weeks in the early part of 

 the season in order to stimulate rapid growth in 

 the plants during their early development. Soft 

 and pithy stalks are frequently attributed to the 

 presence of too much nitrogen in the soil, especially 

 toward the latter part of the growing season. 

 Liberal applications of other elements are usually 

 considered to produce firmer and more brittle stalks. 



On account of the extreme small size of the celery 

 seed, it must, as a rule, be started in the hotbeds or 

 greenhouse where conditions of moisture and tem- 

 perature can be well controlled. The seed is usually 

 sown in fiats or boxes and covered only very lightly, if 

 at all. Not only the soil, but the air surrounding 

 the boxes, should be kept very moist in order that 

 proper germination may take place. The plants 

 grow very slowly at first and should be transplanted 

 once or twice before their final removal to the field. 

 Should the plants become overgrown before time for 

 transplanting they may be sheared back with excel- 

 lent results. Transplanting is done almost entirely 

 by hand. No machine has yet been perfected that 

 will drop the plants sufficiently close together in 

 the row. 



Planting is done at various distances, depending 

 upon the methods of cultivation and blanching to 

 be employed. The common method is to set the 

 plants at intervals of from six to eight inches apart, 

 in double rows. There should be a distance 

 of from six to eight inches between these, and 



