CELERY 
larger, especially where soil is used en- 
tirely for blanching, a celery digger is 
used. Different styles of home-made ma- 
chines are being used for this purpose, 
but the principle of them all is to run an 
edged tool just under the plant, thus cut- 
ting off the root so it can be taken up by 
hand. 
Golden Self-blanching celery is usually 
“shipped in the rough.” <A few of the 
outside leaves are removed and the celery 
is packed directly into crates. The num- 
ber of dozen plants in the crate is marked 
on the outside, the side of the crate is 
nailed, and the crate is ready for the car. 
These crates are usually 20x22 inches by 
24 inches deep. The top is entirely open, 
except for a strip along each edge. When 
celery is to be packed for “shipment in 
the rough,” one of the other sides is left 
open so that the plants may be packed 
in from the side. The remaining side is 
then nailed on and the celery is thus held 
securely in place. A crate will hold from 
four to seven dozen of celery, according 
to its size at the time of marketing. 
Celery Growing in a Humid Section 
*C. P. Halligan, of the Michigan Ex- 
periment Station, makes the following 
suggestions on celery culture for that 
section: 
The distance to plant celery depends 
much upon the variety, season, methods 
of blanching and intensiveness practiced. 
Where celery is to be blanched by boards, 
the rows may be set from 18 inches to 
three feet apart while celery which is to 
be blanched with soil is commonly set 
from four to six feet apart. At Kala- 
mazoo and Muskegon, where early celery 
is grown, the first planting is set in rows 
about three feet apart and the second 
crop is planted later between these rows. 
Sometimes only every alternate row is 
thus interplanted at first but a late crop 
is afterward set in the vacant places. 
This will leave a space of six feet for 
blanching the last crop with soil. When 
a summer crop is grown alone and the 
celery is to be blanched with boards, the 
rows are set from 18 inches to two feet 
* Bulletin 60, Michigan Experiment Station. 
763 
apart. In other sections, where land is 
less valuable and the culture less inten- 
sive, the rows are planted from three to 
four feet apart thus permitting horse 
cultivation. In outlying sections, where 
larger areas are handled, the cost of pro- 
duction will be less if planted at about 
this distance. 
The distance the plants are set in the 
row is also more or less variable but 
three plants to a foot is the general rule 
in this state. Giant Pascal and other 
large growing varieties are usually set 
six inches apart while some growers even 
prefer a space of eight inches for this 
variety. 
Table of Plants Required per Acre 
Distance Distance Number Lumber 
between. between of required for 
rows plants plants blanching 
18 inches 4 inches 87,000 58,000 sq ft. 
2 fee 4 inches 65,24 43,500 sq. ft. 
3 feet 4. inches 43,560 29,000 sp. ft. 
4 feet 4 inches 32,670 21,750 sq. ft. 
5 feet 4 inches 26,136 EHarth 
5 feet 6 inches 17,424 Earth 
6 feet 6 inches 14,510 Earth 
6 feet 8 inches 10,881 Earth 
One ounce of seed should produce at least 
10,000 plants. 
Cultivation 
Celery must be kept continuously grow- 
ing if stalks of high quality are desired. 
Although an excessive feeder, demanding 
plenty of plant food and moisture, the 
plant has a very shallow root system. 
Therefore, constant but shallow cultiva- 
tion is absolutely required to produce 
good crops. As soon as the plants are 
set in the fields, the rows should be cul- 
tivated, being especially careful not to 
throw any soil over the hearts of the 
plants. Hand hoeing may be necessary 
between the plants. Cultivation must be 
then given after every rain and as often 
otherwise as it is necessary to maintain 
a fine dust mulch over the soil. This 
will prevent the moisture of the soil from 
passing off into the air and in addition 
to keeping the roots well supplied with 
water, it will prevent the roots from 
working deeper into the soil where the 
supply of air is not so plentiful and the 
production of plant food not so rapid. 
Constant cultivation induces a larger and 
better quality of growth by preserving 
