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BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



the hands a plant's sprawling leaves and stalks, 

 bring them together in compact, upright form, and 

 then hold them in place by drawing up and compact- 

 ing enough soil around the clump of stalks. In about 

 two weeks more earth is drawn up around the new 

 growth. Later, a third hilling-up may be required; 

 this, and the second one, is easily accomplished in 

 large fields by using a horse-drawn celery-hiller 

 sold especially for the purpose (or a one-horse plow 

 might be used, or a cultivator rigged to throw soil 

 toward both sides). The work must be done when 

 the soil and celery plants are dry, as hilling or hand- 

 ling in a moist condition favors rust or rot, or both. 



All celery requires some kind of blanching — even 

 the so-called "self-blanching" varieties need the shade 

 of the extra-close planting I mentioned a few para- 

 graphs back. 



Varieties : White Plume and Golden Self- 

 Blanching are good early kinds. Kalamazoo, Golden 

 Dwarf, Boston Market, Giant Pascal, etc., are ex- 

 cellent fall and winter varieties. I do not like the 

 Giant Pascal type so well as the smaller kinds. 



Packing and marketing: Celery when fully 

 grown and blanched, is dug, and prepared for mar- 

 ket by trimming off the roots so as to leave the short 

 solid stem. The tops are never cut, but any loose or 

 untidy outside stems and leaves may be removed. 

 The stalks when thus dressed, and washed, are made 

 into bundles of one dozen each, says W. N. Hutt, 

 Maryland, and tied twice with light tape to hold the 

 stalks together in position. These bundles are packed 

 into a ventilated crate, which in Maryland is 22 x 24 

 inches and twenty inches high. The crate is packed 

 full, placing the stalks in upright position. The crate 

 will hold ten or a dozen bundles of ordinary size. 



