134 



VEGETABLE GROWING PROJECTS 



while late celery may be partly or wholly blanched in the field or 

 it may be harvested and blanched in storage. 



Until within recent years, boards were used almost exclusively 

 in blanching the early crop. Boards a foot wide and of any 

 convenient length are stood on edge and leaned against the plants 



Fig. 37. — Plows are used in the larger commercial fields for the ridging or blanching 



of celery. 



on both sides of the row and held in place by stakes or other con- 

 venient devices. Self-blanching varieties require about two 

 weeks to make the plants sufficiently light in color to satisfy mar- 

 ket demands. In recent years long strips of fairly heavy paper 

 are being substituted for boards. These are stretched along the 

 rows and held in place by a little soil or perhaps by wire devices 



