128 



Salad Crops 



a black band near the front margin enclosing six yellow 

 spots ; feeds on the leaves of celery and is most destructive 

 to young plants. Control: Hand-picking is the most depend- 

 able remedy. 



Celery looper (Atifographa falcigera). — A looping cater- 

 pillar about 114 in. long, pale translucent green with a dark 

 median line bordered on each side with three light lines. It 

 sometimes feeds on the leaves of celery. Control: Hand-pick- 

 ing is the only available measure, as arsenicals cannot be used 

 on celery. 



Tarnished plant-bug {Lygus pratcn-'^-is) . — A small incon- 

 spicuous brownish bug, about Vi in. long. The adults often 

 attack celery plants that are blanching, puncture the tender 

 stalks, producing large brown wilted spots and a blackening 

 of the tissues at the joints. No satisfactory method of con- 

 trol is known. 



The negro bug (Thyreocoris pulicarhis). — A short, broad, 

 shining black strongly convex stink-bug about tV in. long, 

 that often attacks celery, puncturing the stalks and stunting 

 or killing them. The injury to celery is mostly done by 

 the adults which have bred on various weeds such as beg'gar- 

 ticks, tick-seed, etc. Control: Destroy all weeds in the vicinity 

 of celery on which the bugs may breed. Spraying is not 

 effective since many of the bugs burrow in the soil where they 

 cannot be reached. 



Parsnip webworm (Depresaria heracliana). — See under 

 Parsnip. 



Spinach aphis (Mijziis persicw). — See under Spinach. 



Celery is practically a universal table supply in North 

 America, prized for its crisp aromatic leaf-stalks, as well 

 as for the decorative character of the finer parts of the 

 foliage. The seed is sometimes nsed in cookery for flav- 

 oring, particularly in the preparation of soups. The whit- 

 ened leaf-stalks are usually eaten raw, but they are also 

 cooked in different ways. 



