184 VEGETABLE GARDENING. 



the bleaching treatment necessary for the self-blanching kinds. 

 The land should be thoroughly cultivated and a furrow turned 

 towards the plants on each side of the row before the handling 

 process is begun, so there may be plenty of loose earth to work 

 with. 



Bleaching with Earth or '^Banking." — If the celery is in- 

 tended for marketing previous to the first of December, it should 

 be banked up or otherwise bleached in the field. Banking up 

 is done immediately after "handling." It consists in plowing 

 earth against the celery to begin with and then finishing it off 

 with a shovel or wide hoe until the earth is banked up to the 

 full height of the celery. This had better be done in several 

 operations as the plants grow and need it. 



Fig-ure 93— Celery banked up for bleaching. 



Bleaching with Boards. — Celery that is to be marketed early 

 should be bleached with boards, because if "banked" with earth 

 it is more liable to become diseased. Boards ten inches wide 

 are the best but narrower boards may be used nearly as well, 

 providing the earth is first drawn towards the plants for them 

 to rest on. The plants are generally handled before the boards 

 are put on, but this is not absolutely necessary, although desira- 

 ble. A board should be put upon each side of the row quite 

 close to the plants and be held in place with ^ peg. If for any 

 reason there are vacancies in the row or the plants are not 

 close enough to exclude light from the stalks when the boards 

 are put up, the vacancies may be filled with hay or straw. For 



