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the soil moisture and keeping the roots 
near the surface where the plant food is 
liberated more rapidly. 
As the surface of the soil in cultivating 
should not be thrown up in ridges but 
kept as smooth and fine as possible, a 
small-toothed cultivator should be used in 
preference to the larger shovel tooth 
ty pes. 
About the Kalamazoo section, the crop 
is planted in rows too close to permit 
horse cultivation and the fields are 
worked with hand cultivators. These are 
especially desirable for cultivating the 
crop as they permit stirring the soil very 
close to the plant without danger of in- 
jury by deep cultivation. 
Marketing 
The marketing of the celery crop starts 
in this state about the first of July and 
continues more or less steadily until mid- 
winter. The harvesting season of the 
various celery districts in Michigan come 
at such times that one district does not 
enter into serious competition with an- 
other in the general markets. The Kal- 
amazoo, Muskegon and Grand Haven dis- 
tricts, for example, grow early celery, 
starting their marketing about the first of 
July and continue until some time in 
October. Even these sections hardly com- 
pete with each other, as the Grand Haven 
and Muskegon crops are shipped across 
the lake to Chicago, or Milwaukee, while 
the Kalamazoo crop is sold largely in 
other cities, being expressed to points all 
over the United States. During the fall, 
the other districts, at Decatur, Vriesland, 
Hudsonville and other smaller sections 
where the crop is grown more extensively, 
begin shipping and aim to dispose of most 
of their crop before severe freezing 
weather. A small portion of this crop in 
these districts is trenched in the field, but 
is generally disposed of before mid-winter 
when the California product enters the 
market. 
Harvesting 
Celery may be harvested as soon as it 
attains the proper size and is well 
blanched. With the earliest crop, to gain 
the advantages of a high market, it is 
frequently cut slightly before this time 
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 
and it often pays better under these cir- 
cumstances than to wait for the crop to 
fully blanch and mature. If the plants 
are left too long after they have matured, 
they lose their crispness and flavor and 
are apt to become diseased. 
When the crop is harvested during the 
summer months and is to be shipped long 
distances, the plants should be cut and 
carried to the packing shed early in the 
morning. In the Kalamazoo district, this 
work is all performed before 7 o’clock in 
the morning. The boards used for blanch- 
ing are removed only as fast as necessary 
and laid between the rows to serve as a 
walk. If the plants are left exposed to 
the sun and wind, they lose their firm- 
ness and are apt to wilt, hence the boards 
are removed only as fast as the celery is 
cut. Using a stiff knife or spading 
shovel, the roots are cut a short distance 
below the surface of the soil and the 
plants laid in small piles along the 
boards. As the packing shed is generally 
nearby, wheelbarrows are used to gather 
the plants as fast as they are cut, and 
they are carried at once to the packing 
house. Where this building is more dis- 
tant or the operations more extensive, 
wagons are used and the plants covered 
with canvas on the way to the packing 
house. 
After reaching the packing house, the 
plants are trimmed by removing the 
outer leaves and cutting the roots to a 
more or less conical shape with a flat 
point near the base of the plant. They 
are then thoroughly washed in clean cold 
water which helps to keep them in a firm, 
fresh condition. After being allowed to 
thoroughly drain for some time, they are 
tied into round bunches containing 12 
good sized plants. In early July, when 
the plants are rather small, 13 or 14 of 
them are sometimes necessary to make a 
good sized bunch. 
Generally the only grading practiced by 
the growers consists in discarding the 
smallest plants or “culls” and bunching 
all the marketable sized plants together. 
Some growers practice more rigid grad- 
ing, selecting the largest and best plants, 
bunching separately and shipping these 
