The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1874-06-13
FARM AND GARDEN.

Peter Henderson writes to the Igricultu

Peter Henderson writes to the IgriculturiSt
Spring Is hardly the proper season III
which to describe al operation that can only
be done on the approach OF winter, but am
convinced that many OF your readers would
cultivate celery, were they sure that they
could easily preserve 1t during the winter
Market gardeners, who store away large guam
titles, preserve it in narrow trenches IN the
open ground, and protect it 10y means OF a
covering OF leaves or litter, as already de-
scribed in your pages and in Gardening for
Profit but for smaller growers, either for
sale or for private use, quite quantity may
be preserved in any cellar where there is no
furnace or other fire heat. When few hun
dred roots only are to be stored, 1t can be
placed in narrow boxes, say nine inches wide,
four or SIX feet in length and OF depth u
little less than the height OF the celery a
few inches of sand or soil is placed ON the
bottom and the celery is packed in the box
upright the roots being placed on the sand at
the bottom; the celery must be packed in as
tight as possible, but without bruising. Boxes
thus packed and stood on the cool floor of the
cellar, if put away in November, will be
blanched tit for use during January, Fcbru
airy and March If put in sooner than No
vember, it will blanCh earlier, and if stored
later, it will keep later. Ii larger quantities
are to be kept in the cellar, the cheapest prac-
ticablc way to do so is to begin at one side
next the wall, farthest from the entrance, and
erect boards across the cellar, nine inches
from the wall, and of height Il little less
than Nle length Of the celery-that is, if the
celery is twenty-four inches in length, the
boarding may be eighteen or twenty inches
high. ln this narrow division the celery Is
packed in upright, as above described for
packing in boxes. AS soon as the first tier Is
filled, erect another board trench or division
at nine inches distant from the first, and 50 on
until the whole space required is filled up
1t will be understood that No soil or sand Is
packed between the stalks Of celery, only two
or three inches being strown on the floor, on
which the roots are placed A cellar or root
house so packed, twenty by twenty ieet Will
hold from three thousand to five thousand
roots of celery, according to their size. Care
must be taken not to get the board partitions
forming the trenches or divisions between the
tiers or celery more than nine or ten inches
apart for if at much greater distance, the
stems and leaves would be in too large masses
and would generate heat and soon decay.
AS the cellar or roOthouSe is usually
damp and dark apartment there will general
ly be no necessity to water the celery alter it
is packed. Every means Of ventilation should
be used, even in cold weather, for it must al
ways be borne in mind that celery is avege-
table that will stand quite severe front with
out injury SO if the temperature OF the cellar
fall five or six degrees below the freezing
point, no injury will be done. When celery
or other vegetables are packed away for pre-
servaton in cellars or in the open field, ii is
Indispensable that no water be allowed to
lodge in the pit or trench; so that in the
event of using cellar or roothouse for this
purpose, u matter of first importance is toI
provide for thorough drainage in soils where
drainage is at all necessary