CULTURAL DIRECTIONS 
3 2 5 
changes cause the condensation of moisture on the 
plants. This should be avoided. The house, which has 
been very satisfactory, will hold about $2,000 worth of 
celery.” Would cost now probably $4,000 to $4,500. 
The city cold storage houses are used extensively for 
the care of the crop until celery from Florida and Cali- 
fornia begins to arrive. The crates, which are packed in 
the roug'h in the field, are placed, without further atten- 
tion, in cold storage rooms, with provision made for the 
necessary air spaces between the crates. This is a con- 
venient method for the grower, but the quality of cold 
storag'e celery is always inferior to that which has been 
held on the farm under more natural conditions. 
415. Returns.— Small areas of celery sometimes pro- 
duce at the rate of $2,000 gross returns an acre. While 
this, is unusual, it shows the great possibilities of this 
crop. Market gardeners who irrigate frequently secure 
gross incomes of $1,200 an acre. When total receipts on 
a large scale amount to $800 an acre it is considered ex- 
cellent, while $500 is more common perhaps. The cost 
of producing and marketing an acre of celery varies 
greatly. Beattie (“Celery Culture,” p. 130) gives the 
following estimates, which are low for present day costs : 
Rental of land or interest on investment... $20 to $60 
Ten days’ team work, including hauling 
manure 30 to 50 
Fifty cubic yards of barnyard manure 25 to 50 
Commercial fertilizers 50 to 100 
Seed and production of plants* 10 to 25 
Setting out plants 15 to 25 
Cultivation and irrigation 15 to 25 
Loss on lumber used in blanching 10 to 20 
Cost of 350 crates and packing 60 to 100 
Total 
$235 to $455 
