Cel No amount of effort on the part of the grower 
ery will overcome the handicap of poor celery seed 
20 
GROWING AND HARVESTING CELERY 
% Celery requires an abundance of moisture at all stages of 
growth but will not endure flooding for any length of time. 
Seed is sown from February to May in beds either drilled or 
broadcast. This seed must be planted very shallow, is slow to 
germinate and the bed must be kept wet. The beds may be 
covered with burlap sacks until the plants begin to come to 
the surface, when the sacks must be removed at once. The 
seedlings will be ruined if the sacks are left on even one day 
too long. After the seedlings are well started, they may be 
transplanted or thinned out to give them room to make stocky 
plants. If broadcast, seedlings should be two or three inches 
each way or if in drills, one inch apart in six inch rows will 
give strong plants. Usually three months will be required for 
seed to produce a plant ready to transplant into the field. Here 
at Rocky Ford seed is planted during March and transplanted 
during June. 1 oz. should produce 10,000 plants. % lb. enough 
plants for an acre. 4 oz. plants 100 ft. of drill. 
Celery plants are usu- ne ? 
ally set in 24 to 36 inch 9b ee - 
rows, plants placed SN ea 
about 7 inches apart in 
the row. Frequent cul- 
tivation and irrigation 
is necessary; an abun- 
dance of fertilizer must 
be used unless the soil 
is exceptionally rich. 
» 
—— 
— 
e—* 
As the plants ap- ; 
proach maturity’ they Showing how celery Is packed In 
must be blanched by the trench 
hilling with earth or 
with boards or special blanching paper. Late celery should be 
trenched at the approach of freezing weather... The trench 
should be dug in well drained soil 12 to 15 inches wide, as deep 
as the plants are tall and as long as desired. Dig the plants 
with ‘roots on and set them close together in the trench, water- 
ing the soil about the roots but being careful to keep the tops 
dry. Should the plant begin to wilt, water the roots without 
wetting the stalks or leaves as this will cause rotting. Cover 
with boards to shade and keep temperature above freezing 
point when the weather gets cold by adding straw covered 
with soil as required. The stalks are gradually blanched and 
may be used during the winter. From the home garden the 
whole plants may be taken up late in the fall, packed in a box 
with seil around the roots and stored in the cellar. Occasional 
light waterings like above described. 
No vegetable requires more careful handling in seed produc- 
tion than Celery. 
Our Celery seed represents the most expert care to produce 
the most desirable and reliable seed. 
Celery field. Individual plants being tied in papers for bleaching. 
uhanats 
