186 VEGETABLE GARDENING. 



Digging Celery. — Celery will stand many light frosts, but 

 hard freezing is liable to injure it, and it should never be han- 

 dled when frozen. It is seldom safe to allow it to remain un- 

 protected in the ground in this section after the middle of Octo- 

 ber, but by covering the plants with straw or other material they 

 may often be safely left in the field until the middle of Novem- 

 ber if well banked up. The plants are generally lifted with a 

 spade after a furrow has been plowed away from the row on one 

 side. Most of the soil should be shaken off the roots and the 

 old outside leaves removed before storing. In this section, to 

 keep well, celery should be stored in a cold, moist cellar or frost- 

 proof shed. If it does not w^hiten quickly enough the plants may 

 be watered and kept warm and thus started into growth, which 

 results in forming the tender white shoots very quickly. 



Storing Celery. — For home use a good way to keep celery is 

 to pack the plants closely together, upright, in boxes twelve to 

 eighteen inches wide, with the bottom covered with several 

 inches of moist sand, a little of which should be worked in 

 among the roots. There is no need of having sand between the 

 plants. These boxes, when packed, should be kept in a cold, 

 damp cellar. In storing for market use, where there is plenty 

 of storage room, the plants are sometimes "heeled in" in sand on 

 the floor; the cheapest practicable way, however, is to pack them 

 between boards about nine inches apart. To do this, place the 

 first board on one side of the cellar or shed nine inches from 

 the wall, with its upper edge at a height from the floor a little 

 less than the length of the cellar. The boards may be supported 

 by stakes and should not rest on the ground. In this narrow di- 

 vision the celery should be packed upright, as described for pack- 

 ing in boxes. As soon as the first tier is filled, erect another 

 board division at nine inches from the first, and so continue 

 until the whole surface is covered. No soil or sand is packed 

 among the stalks of celery, but three or four inches of either is 

 placed on the floor, into which the roots are bedded. The temper- 

 ature of the celery should be kept very low, and even a little 

 frost in the cellar will not hurt it. If dry, it must be watered, 

 but water must not be put upon the leaves, as it may bring on 

 rot. If celery is wanted for immediate use, it may be stored in 



