CULTURAL DIRECTIONS 3O5 



Winter Queen is another popular, largely grown late 

 variety. It does not attain as great a height as Giant 

 Pascal, and is more convenient to store. 



French Success is a stocky, compact winter variety 

 of excellent keeping qualities. 



Boston Market, a low, dwarf-growing variety, is espe- 

 cially popular in Boston. When thoroughly blanched 

 with soil the stalks are extremely tender and delicious 

 in flavor. No variety excels it in quality. 



Many other varieties are described in the seed catalogs 

 and some of them are excellent. 



400. Climatic requirements. — Celery is grown success- 

 fully in all parts of the United States. Certain climatic 

 conditions, however, are known to be especially favor- 

 able for its most successful culture. Low humidity, 

 plenty of sunshine, considerable warmth during the day 

 and cool nights provide ideal conditions. Diseases are 

 less troublesome when the air is dry, and a rapid but 

 strong, healthy growth is encouraged by sunshine and 

 relatively high, dry temperatures. Cool nights make the 

 stems firm and crisp. Most northern sections provide 

 excellent conditions during summer and fall, while 

 some parts of the South, especially Florida, possess the 

 proper climatic conditions for winter culture. 



Although celery is one of our hardy vegetables, it will 

 not stand severe freezing without sustaining injuries. 

 The young plants are likely to be checked in growth 

 by hard spring frosts which probably cause them to pro- 

 duce seed stalks. The matured plants are often damaged 

 or killed by severe freezing. Vigorous plants will' gen- 

 erally stand a drop of seven degrees below freezing, 

 although this will impair the keeping quality. A liberal 

 rainfall, well distributed during the growing season is 

 necessary unless irrigation is possible. 



401. Soils. — The great commercial plantations of cel- 

 ery in the states bordering on the Great Lakes, in Cali- 



