474 



THE NEW CELERY-CULTURE. 



feet so that it can be taken off to give air or to reach the 

 celery when wanted. Cover this board with coarse ma- 

 nure so that it may be removed, and the celery taken 

 out when the ground is frozen. 



This pit answers very well for keeping celery up to 

 Thanksgiving or Christmas. One acre of celery well 

 grown by this new method will require about one-tenth 

 of an acre of storage-room. Very few farmers have this 

 in their cellars or root-houses. Make the pits a foot 

 higher on one side, so that the water may run off. Do 

 not store your celery in pits or cellars when wet. I have 

 stored celery in pits as green as it could be and taken it 

 out in February and March well-blanched. The pits 

 are dug in the field near the celery, so that the latter 

 can be easily stored when dug. My soil is a sandy loam, 

 so there is no danger of water getting into the pits. This 

 high, dry, sandy soil is considered poor soil for celery, 

 but my experience has taught me that nearly all ground 

 can be made good by a judicious use of water and plant- 

 food. Let me advise all those who contemplate growing 

 celery on an extensive scale not to do it by this new 

 method without experience, but to try a small piece first. 



COST OF AN ACRE. 



The expenses of growing and marketing one acre of 

 celery by the new method are as follows : 



1 pound seed 52 50 



10 cords manure 5000 



Spreading 2 so 



Plowing . . 2 00 



Raking and rolling 5 00 



126,000 plants .... 126 00 



Planting 41 50 



Hoeing and weeding 2700 



2 tons fertilizer So 00 



Sowing fertilizer 3 00 



Cleaning and marketing 250 00 



Storing a portion of the crop .So 00 



Cost of water and labor in watering ,So 00 



Total 56S9 50 



With experience some of these expenses can be re- 

 duced. Barn-yard manure in this vicinity is worth from 

 $3 to $4 per cord. The cost of growing 126,000 plants, 

 in hotbeds or greenhouses, for early celery, would amount 

 to more than $1 per thousand ; but part of the plants 

 were grown in the field at a cost of 50 cents per thousand. 

 The cleaning and marketing would cost about $120 if the 

 celery is sold to commission-merchants and marketed 

 from the field before it is stored. The water used was 

 from the city supply, running through a half-inch meter, 

 conducted through pipes in and through the field, to 

 which was attached a hose at frequent intervals. The 

 water-supply was very unsatisfactory and insufficient, es- 

 pecially in dry, warm weather when the celery was large. 



MARKETING THE CROP. 



The question, "How did you market such a large 

 crop of celery ? " has been often asked, and it is a very 

 important question, judging from the large number of 

 inquiries received. In places where the crop had grown 

 rankly and rapidly it was ready for market in August. 

 Two large tubs, made by sawing a hogshead into halves, 

 were taken to the field to hold water for washing the 

 celery. A man went along the rows digging up the 

 plants with a spading-fork in his right hand, pulling 



them out with his left, and shaking the dirt from the 

 roots by striking them against the handle of the fork. 

 The plants were then stripped of wilted stalks and car- 

 ried to the washing-tubs. 



No knife was used on the Golden Self-blanching va- 

 riety. The roots were left on and the plants were 

 washed with a brush-broom in one tub and rinsed in the 

 other, then placed on a table, where they were bunched 

 and packed in water-tight boxes or crates, enough water 

 being poured into the boxes to cover the roots. Celery 



A, 20x4 inches ; B, 141^x4. Top pieces— C, ij^-inch wide, -'t-inch 

 thick. Posts— D, 12 inches long, one inch square. The box is 

 made of -Ji-inch stuff. The joinls are mitered and painted before 

 nailing together. The posts are nailed inside the corners. The 

 crate is painted inside and out with any color— white preferred. 



marketed in this way will keep good one week in warm 

 summer weather. Commission-merchants can then ship 

 to hotels and stores throughout the country. 



This is the greatest improvement ever made in market- 

 ing early celery. A description of the box or crato is 

 given below the illustration. 



These crates, are highly praised by all who use them. 

 They are made to hold 2 or lYz dozen roots each. It 

 the market is dull and part of the load is unsold, it can 

 be left at some place or brought home and offered for 

 sale the next day with a clear conscience, for it will be 

 as good as the celery taken up 24 hours later. 



The increase in the consumption of celery during the 

 last few years has been so great that growers have not 

 kept up with the demand. Last month (February) 

 celery was selling in Boston for $4 per dozen. Three or 

 four years ago but small quantities were sold before 

 Thanksgiving. Now large quantities are sold in August, 

 September and October. To keep celery brittle, solid 

 and salable, these water-tight crates are indispensable 

 during the warm summer weather. On Thursdays I have 

 sold 60 or go dozen celery-roots to commission-mer- 

 chants, they selling them on Fridays and Saturdays to 

 markets and stores. The markets kept some of the 

 celery till Tuesday and Wednesday of the next week, 

 and this in summer with the thermometer up to 60 and 

 80 degrees. Early celery cannot be marketed success- 

 fully without these crates. A few buyers will object at 

 first to having the roots left on, but after they see the 

 advantages of the system they will not buy celery in any 

 other form. They find they can deliver it to consumers 

 fresh and solid with the roots on. When celery is 

 grown and marketed in this way, three men can take up 

 and prepare about 100 dozen in a day. 



Robert Niven. 



