AND GENERAL HOETICULTUKE. 



77 



CEL 



side of the Celery, and pressing it tightly to 

 It, so as to give the leaves an upward growth 

 preparatory to blanching for use. Supposing 

 this handling process is done by the middle 

 of September, by the first week in October it 

 is ready for " banking up," which is done by 

 digging the soil from between the rows, and 

 laying or banking it up with the spade on 

 each side of the row of Celery. After being 

 60 banked up in October, it will be ready for 

 use in three or four weeks, it wanted at that 

 time. But if, as in most cases, it is needed 

 for winter use only, and is to be put away in 

 trenches, or in the cellar, as will hereafter be 

 described, all that it requires is the operation 

 of " handling." If the Celery is to be left in 

 the open ground where it was grown, then a 

 heavy bank must be made on each side of the 

 rows, and as cold weather approaches — say in 

 this latitude by the middle of November — an 

 additional covering of at least a foot of leaves 

 or litter must be closely packed against the 

 bank, to protect it from frost ; but it is not 

 safe to leave it in the banks where it grows, 

 in any section of the country where the tem- 

 perature gets lower than 10 degrees above 

 zero. 



Perhaps the best way to keep Celery for 

 family use is in a cool cellar. This can be 

 done by storing it in narrow boxes, of a depth 

 a little less than the height of the Celery. A 

 few inches of sand or soil are placed in the 

 bottom of the box, and the Celery is packed 

 upright, the roots being placed on the sand at 

 the bottom; but no sand or anything else 

 must be put between the stalks of the Celery, 

 all that is needed being the damp sand on the 

 bottom of the box, the meaning of which is, 

 that before Celery will blanch or whiten, it 

 must first si;art at the root ; hence the neces- 

 sity of placing the roots on an inch or so of 

 damp sand. Boxes thus packed and placed in 

 a cool cellar in. November, will be blanched fit 

 for use during January, February, and March, 

 though for succession it will be better to put 

 It in the boxes, from the open ground, at three 

 different times, say October 25th, November 

 10th, and November 20th. Or if the boxes are 

 not at hand, the Celery may be put away on 

 the floor of the cellar, in strips of eight or 

 nine inches wide, divided by boards of a 

 width equal to the height of the Celery. That 

 is, if the Celery is two feet high, the boards 

 separating it must be about the same height. 

 The reason for dividing the Celery in these 

 narrow strips by boards Is to prevent heating, 

 which would take place if placed together in 

 too thick masses. The dates above given 

 apply, of course, to the latitude of New York; 

 if further south, do the work later ; if further 

 north, earlier. If one has no suitable cellar, 

 the Celery can be very readily preserved in 

 the manner followed by market gardeners. 

 Thus, afterithas been " handled " orstraight- 

 ened up, as before described, what is intended 

 lor use by Christmas should be dug up about 

 October 25th ; that to be used in January and 

 February, by November lOtti ; and that for 

 Marph use, by November 20th, which latter 

 date is as late as it can be risked here. Al- 

 though it will stand quite a sharp frost, the 

 weather by the efid of November is often 

 severe enough to kill it, or so freeze it in the 

 ground that it cannot be dug up. The ground 

 In which it is to be preserved for winter use 



CEL 



must be as dry as possible, and so arranged 

 that no water can remain in the trench. Dig 

 a trench as narrow as possible (if it should 

 not be wider than ten inches), and of a depth 

 equal to the height of the Celery; that is, if 

 the plant of Celery be eighteen inches high, 

 the trench should be dug eighteen inches 

 deep. The Celery is then packed exactly in 

 the. manner described for storing in boxes 

 to be placed in the cellar; that is, stand 

 it as near upright as possible, and pack as 

 closely together as can be done without bruis- 

 ing it ; no soil or sand must be put between 

 the stalks. As the weather becomes cold, the 

 trenches should be gradually covered with 

 leaves or litter to the thickness of six or eight 

 inches, which will be enough to prevent severe 

 freezing, and enable the roots to be taken out 

 easily when wanted. Another method now 

 practised by the market gardeners of New 

 Jersey is as follows : before the approach of 

 very cold weather — say the middle of Decem- 

 ber — the Celery in the trenches is pressed 

 somewhat closely together by passing a spade 

 down deeply alongside of the trench on each 

 side, but about three or four inches from the 

 Celery. It is best done by two men, so that 

 they press against each other, thus firming 

 the top of the Celery in the trench until it is 

 compact enough to sustain a weight of three 

 or four inches of soil, which is taken from the 

 sides of the trench and spread over the Celery. 

 This earth covering keeps it rather fresher 

 than the covering of Jitter, though on the ap- 

 proach of cold weather the earth covering is 

 not suflScient, and a covering of six or seven 

 inches of leaves must yet be placed over the 

 earth covering. 



From 200 to 500 roots are usually required 

 for the use of an ordinary family. The va,ri- 

 eties we' recommend are the Golden Dwa,rf, 

 Sandringham, Golden Self-blanching, White 

 Walnut, White Plume, and London Bed. 



The peculiarity of the variety known as 

 "White Plume" is that natwrcSly its stalks 

 and portions of its inner leaves are white, so 

 that by closing the stalks, either by tying 

 them up with matting, or by simply drawing 

 the soil up against the plants and pressing it 

 together with the hands, and again drawing 

 up the soil with the hoe or plough, so as to 

 keep the soil that has been squeezed against 

 the Celery in its place, completes the work of 

 blanching ; while it is well-known that in all 

 other kinds of Celery, in addition to this, the 

 slow and troublesome process of "banking" 

 with the spade is a necessity. Another great 

 merit of the "White Plume" Celery is that, 

 it far exceeds any known vegetable as an 

 ornament for the table, the inner leaves being 

 disposed somewhat like an ostrich feather, as 

 to suggest the name we have given it of 

 " White Plume." It is well known that one- 

 half the value of a Celery, particularly in our 

 best hotels and restaurants, is held to be its 

 value as a table ornament, and for this purpose 

 this new variety is admirably fitted. In 

 addition to this, its eating qualities are equal 

 to the very best of the older sorts, being crisp, 

 solid and having a peculiar nutty flavor, 

 peculiar to the "Walnut" and some of the 

 red sorts; altogether we cannot find words 

 sufficient to describe its many merits as it 

 deserves. The great bugbear in the cultiva- 

 tion of Celery, by those engaged in growing it 



