CROPS 69 



A good plan for planting early and late celery is to set 

 the two kinds in alternate rows two feet apart. The early 

 celery is to be l)lanched with boards, or heavy paper, staked 

 against the plants. The early celery is harvested before the 

 late celery needs much banking, leaving the late celery in 

 rows four feet apart. 



Fertilizers. Celery is a heavy feeder on nitrogenous 

 fertilizers, and applications of at least 25 cords per acre of 

 rotted manure should be made for this crop. A complete 

 high grade fertilizer, containing 4-8-10, should be applied 

 at the rate of 1500 to 3000 pounds per acre previous to 

 planting. Nitrate of soda should be sown along the rows 

 at the rate of 200 pounds per acre at intervals after the 

 plants are well established. 



Cultivation. The ground should be kept thoroughly 

 cultivated from the time that the plants are set in the field 

 until the time of harvest. Celery requires large quantities 

 of water, and unless there is a sufficient normal supply, 

 irrigation nmst be practiced to insure a good crop. 



Harvesting. Celery is ready for harvesting as soon as 

 sufficiently blanched, so long as the plants are of sufficient 

 size. The plants may be dug up with a spade, as in Fig. 28, 

 or ploughed out, or dug with a small tree digger which 

 straddles the row as shown in Fig. 29. The tree digger is 

 very effective in harvesting celery on a big scale. It loosens 

 the plants, cutting off only a small part of the roots, and does 

 not break the stalks as is usually the case when the plants 

 are ploughed out. 



Preparing for Market. The roots are trimmed off 

 to a wedge shape, the unblanched or broken stalks are 

 stripped off, and if the plants are small, several of them are 

 tied into a bunch. Celery should be thoroughly washed 

 before bunching or packing for market. 



