Celery 



133 



in pits or storage. It may be said that green unblanched 

 celery may be used for cooking, and in some countries the 

 plant is not blanched to the extent to which it is known in 

 North America. 



Blanching hy means of hoards is employed for the early 

 or summer celery, because protection from frost must be 

 supplied to the celery that remains in the field after the 

 first of October, and the boards usually do not afford suf- 

 ficient protection; and the early self -blanching varieties 

 are likely to decay or at least not to stand so long if banked 

 with earth. Boards one foot wide and one inch thick and 

 about 12 or 14 feet long are used. If the boards are 

 much longer than this, they are awkward to handle. 

 These boards are set on edge close against the crown of 

 the plant, one on either side of the row, and the tops are 

 tipped together until they are only two or three inches 

 apart or until they rest against the plants. The boards 

 are held in this position by cleats nailed across the top, 

 or by wire hooks. The first " boarding is made when the 

 celery is only tall enough to show a few of its leaves above 

 the boards. The plants shoot up for light, making slender 

 soft stalks. The foliage fills the space between the boards 

 and excludes the light from above. In ten to twenty days 

 in warm " growing " wecther, the celery may be blanched 

 by this method. In any means of blanching in summer 

 one must see that the plants do not rot at the heart, as 

 they are likely to do if they are too wet at the core. The 

 board method of blanching celery is one of the most eco- 

 nomical and is now extensively used in the large celery 

 fields. G-rowers usually find that it pays to obtain a good 

 quality of lumber and to use it year after year. Some 



