PETER HENDERSON & CO.'S VEGETABLE SEED NOVELTIES. 



New Celery, "Henderson's White Plume." 



COPYRIGHT 1853. 



This season (1884), for the first time, 

 is introduced a new kind of Celery, that 

 *e feel satisfied will so simplify its cul- 

 ture that the most inexperienced can 

 now grow Celery, blanched in the proper 

 condition for the table, just as easily as 

 a Cabbage or Lettuce. The peculiarity 

 of the Celery known as " White Plume " 

 IS, that naturally its stalk and portions 

 of its inner leaves and heart are white, 

 50 that, by closing the stalks, either by 

 tying them up with matting, or by simply 

 drawing the soil up against the plant and 

 pressing it together with the hands, and 

 again drawing up the soil with the hoe 

 or plow, so as to keep the soil that has 

 been squeezed against the Celery in its 

 place, the work of blanching is com- 

 pleted; while it is well-known that in 

 all other kinds of Celery, in addition to 

 this, the slow and troublesome process 

 of high "banking "or earthing up 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, so 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 

 ^est hotels and restaurants, is held to be 

 Its fitness as a table ornament, and for 

 his purpose this new variety is admira- 

 ily fitted. In addition to this, its eating 

 ■[ualities are equal to the very best of the 

 ilder sorts, being crisp, solid, and hav- 

 ng that nutty flavor peculiar to the 

 " Walnut " and some of the red sorts. 

 Altogether, we cannot find words sufE- 



Hendersou's White Pliiiiie Celery. 



cient to describe its many merits as it deserves. 



The great bugbear in the cultivation of Celery, by those engaged in growing it for market, has been 

 the labor entailed in the " banking " to whiten or blanch it ; and with the unskilled amateur growing a few 

 hundred for private use, the troublesome process of "banking" has usually been a detriment sufficient to 

 prevent him from trying. Now he can grow this new sort just as simply as any other vegetable. In the 

 first week of October of 1882, the Celery banks in Hudson County, New Jersey, must have cost at least 

 815,000 in labor to erect; but a rain storm of twenty-four hours' duration washed the banks down and 

 destroyed the work of weeks. Had this new Celery been under process of blanching, no high banks 

 would have been needed, and the storm would have been nearly harmless as the " wash " would have done 

 but a trifling injury. 



But absolute perfection is hardly to be expected, in anything, and the "White Plume" Celery has 

 one drawback; the very qualities that make its culture so simple in the fall and early winter months, unfit 

 it for a late Celery that will keep until Spring, as its tenderness and crispness of structure cause it to rot 

 quicker than the old green kinds; but for use during the months of October, November, December, and^ 

 the early part of January, we advise it to be grown, if the saving of labor and quality be considerations. 

 It is equally as hardy against frost as the other kinds. In size and weight it is very similar to those popular 

 kinds, the " Golden Dwarf" and " Henderson's Half Dwarf," in fact, it originated in what is known as 

 a "sport" from ''Henderson's Half Dwarf ;" that is, a single plant showed the whiteness of stem and 

 peculiar feathery leaves, which, fortunately, were permanently reproduced from seed, and gave us this 

 entirely new type of Celery. Its culture is in all respects the same as that directed for the other sorts, 

 with the exception that we are saved the trouble of high " banking " or earthing up. 



Our illustration shows a bunch of four, the usual way in which Celery is put up for the New York 

 Markets. Price, 50 cents per packet; 10 packets for $5.00. 



