THE NEW CELERY-CULTURE. 



473 



require a large amount of food, and it must be given in 

 a liquid form, hence the necessity of giving the plants 

 plenty of water. Vegetables drink the food, while ani- 

 mals eat it ; hence the great importance of giving celery 

 an abundance of water to dissolve its food. The more 

 fertilizer used, the larger the growth and the more water 

 required to make the food in the fertilizer available. 

 There are loo.ooo good plants upon an acre, allowing 

 26,000 for small plants and " misses." 



The illustration shown here is taken from a photograph 

 of my field, displaying a crop from which I sold celery 

 at the rate of $10,000 per acre. The plants from this 

 crop were set seven inches apart each way. The celery 

 was very nicely blanched and much cleaner and brighter 



up, thereby checking the growth. No rheumatic pains 

 are caused by getting down on one's knees to press the 

 earth about the plants. No worms eat the glossy sur- 

 face of the stalks, making them rusty and unsalable. 

 The growth is very rapid, consequently the crop is tender, 

 solid and brittle. There are but very few spongy plants. 

 Watering or irrigating is the all-important work, and 

 about all that is necessary at this stage of growth. The 

 natural rainfall cannot be depended on to give sufficient 

 moisture to grow such a large crop. 



Celery to be "good" must be pleasing to the eye as 

 well as pleasing to the taste. The bunches ought to be 

 uniform in size, the plants washed clean and well 

 trimmed. By adopting the new method of growing 



^^^^^^^^ 



A Celery-crop grown by the New Method. (From a Photograph.) 



than any celery banked with earth. It was pronounced 

 the best celery ever seen at that season of the year. One 

 plant made a satisfactory bunch which readily sold for 

 $1.25 per dozen, or over ten cents a plant. Last season 

 the yield on one-twelfth of an acre was at the rate of 

 $4,000 an acre. It was sold to commissi m me"ch:ints in 

 Providence, R. I., for f 1 a ('ozen ; a few dozens were 

 sold in the market for $1.25 each 



BLANCHING ( ELERV. 



Three or four weeks after the 1,200 p )ands of celery - 

 manure before mentioned had been applied, about 1,300 

 pounds more were used. The celery at this time was 

 growing and blanching rapidly. In the new celery-cul- 

 ture there is no back-breaking labor in banking-up. The 

 working roots are not cut off to secure tarth to bank it 



celery — that is, planting it seven inches apart — the foli- 

 age is so thick that beneath it the air is moist and the 

 shade dark, causing the celery to blanch well, especially 

 the easily blanching varieties. All celery not blanched 

 before it is time to secure it from frost is packed in pits. 

 These are dug from eighteen inches to two feet deep (ac- 

 cording to the size of the plants) and about six feet wide. 

 The earth thrown out is banked on each side, forming a 

 wall one foot deep and making the pit from two and one- 

 half to three feet deep. The celery is dug up with a 

 little dirt adhering to the roots, carried to the pits and 

 closely packed. Posts are placed where needed to stretch 

 stringers upon, to support the covering of boards. Be 

 sure the covering is strong enough to hold up from three 

 to eight inches of soil. Leave a board loose every fifteen 



