3i8 
VEGETABLE GARDENING 
upper edges, the boards may be brought as close to- 
gether as the tops of the plants will permit, or stakes 
may be used for the same purpose. From io to 20 days 
are required for blanching, depending mainly upon 
weather conditions. In warm, humid weather blanch- 
ing proceeds much more rapidly than at lower tem- 
peratures. A light furrow of soil is often thrown along 
the lower edges of the boards to exclude the light. 
The boards are shifted to other rows as the crop is 
FIG. 78. CELERY BLANCHED WITH BOARDS 
marketed. Thus the same boards may be used half a 
dozen or more times during the season. Between sea- 
sons the lumber should be stored in the dry or stacked 
in flat piles, as in lumber yards. With good care, sound 
boards will last at least 15 years. 
Paper may also be used in blanching. A machine has 
been devised which first places a strip of paper against 
the row and then throws soil against the paper. In- 
dividual paper wrappers, either home-made or purchased 
ready to use, may be placed about each plant. 
