UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
m BULLETIN No. 579 
Joint Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry, WM.A. *NlJ|i*, 
TAYLOR, Chief, and the Bureau of Markets 
CHARLES J. BRAND, Chief 
j&? m< &j-u 
Washington, D. C. 
September 5, 1917 
CELERY STORAGE EXPERIMENTS. 
By H. C. Thompson, 
Horticulturist, Office of Horticultural and Pomological Investigations. 
CONTENTS. 
Introduction 1 
Preliminary study 3 
Objects and outline of the experiments 3 
Experiments in 1912-13 5 
Experiments in 1913-14 6 
Experiments in 1914-15 7 
Celery grown at Arkport 7 
Celery grown at Williamson 9 
Experiments in 1915-16 10 
Celery stored at Hornell 10 
Celery stored at Williamson 12 
Summary of results 13 
Comparison of different types of crates. . . 13 
Estimated cash value of celery when 
stored in different types of crates 15 
Comparative cost of crates 15 
Comparison of the keeping quality of cel- 
ery stored at different heights in the 
storage room 18 
Summary 24 
INTRODUCTION. 
Celery is one of the important truck crops grown in the United 
States. The farm value of the crop of 1909 was $3,922,848, of which 
crop eight States, New York, Michigan, Florida, California, Massa- 
chusetts, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, produced about 86 per 
cent. The six northern States mentioned produce about two-thirds 
of the celery grown in the United States, and as a considerable por- 
tion of this is stored for a period of one to three months the merchan- 
x The writer wishes to acknowledge his indebtedness to Mr. C. C. Locke, of Arkport, 
N. Y., Mr. Henry Greffrath, South Lima, N. Y., and Mr. W. P. Rodgers, Williamson, 
N. Y., for their courtesy in allowing him to select from their fields the celery used in 
these experiments ; also to the managers of the Hygeia Refrigerating Co., Elmira, N. Y., 
the Hornell Ice & Storage Co., Hornell, N. Y., and the Williamson Ice & Storage Co., 
Williamson, N. Y., in whose houses the experimental lots of celery were stored, for valu- 
able assistance rendered. 
Note. — The fruit and vegetable handling, transportation, and storage investigations 
formerly administered in the Office of Horticultural and Pomological Investigations of 
the Bureau of Plant Industry are now being prosecuted jointly and cooperatively by the 
Bureau of Plant Industry and the Bureau of Markets, 
2495°— Bull. 579—17 1 
