Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1883-07-26
Girls CELERY.
The Growing Cultivation of this Veg
cfahIe for Private Use.

fenced market garQnefS, as IL DaQ
been supposed that the knowledge
necessary to cultivate it properly was
very difficult to obtain, but of late
wears thanks to the clear details
that have been given III some of the
horticultural books OH the subject
the matter has been made soplain and
simple that anyone having space
enough can cultivate with little trouble
All that is required for the use of an
ordinary family, and the plants are
grown IN such quantities and so largely
distributed in the markets and seed
stores all over our large cities that
anyone wishing to try the cultivation
of this excellent vegetable can do so
at little expense.
AS many of our readers may not
have access to works on this subject,
we give here in brief the mOdus Oper-
andi Of culture Celery in this count
ry is planted on the level surface All
the English books on the subject rec
ommend planting it in trenches, but
this IS found to be a plan that will not
do in this country of violent thunder
showers, 50 that IN our climate celery
IS planted on the level just tbs same
as any other vegetable. 1t is usually
planted in lines three feet distant
from each other, with six inches be
tween the plants; the time Of planting
IS found to answer any time from the
lst Of July to the middle of August,
probably the middle Of July being
about the best date Great care must
be taken in planting to have the roots
of the celery well firmed in the ground.
The best way to do this is after plant
ing to tread in each plant with the
feet. If this prccaution is taken, par
tlcularly if the plants are set i'll the
afternoon or evening, there is no
danger Of any of them dying. After
the plants have been set, all that is
necessary for the next month IS simply
to keep the weeds from them by hoe
ing around them; but about the mid
die Of August they begin to start to
grow, and from that time on a little
earth should be drawn up against the
plants, SO as to begin the process of
blanching, or whitening, for unless
celery is whitened, as is we'll known,
1t IS useless.
After drawing the soil up against
the plants it is pressed against them
firmly with the hands, so as to keep
them IN an upright position; then the
process of banking is done by the
spade, dy taking the earth from the
space between the rows and throwing
it on each side up against the plants.
This excludes the air and light, and
induces the whitening, or blanching
This last part of banking" as it is
technically termed, IS one somewhat
troublesome for the amateur, but we
are glad to say that a new celery.
which will be for the first time issued
next year by one of our New York
seed firms, will possess the quality of
whitening with very little labor, and
entirely without the work of banking
This will open a new era i'll celery
culture and make this vegetable as
easily grown as cabbage or cucm-
Der. The name has not vet been
given this new variety, but it will no
doubt be put before the public in the
usual way of new vegetables and
plant The kinds grown at present
are known as golden dwarf, Lon
don red, ''and walnut favored" All
three have very special merits, and
all of them are good. When celery
is wanted for use in the fall it is very
simple plan to dig the roots up and
put them closely together upright in
any box that has a depth equal to
the height of the celery. When
tightly packed in this upright position
it Will blanch of itself, provided three
or four inches of moist earth is placed
in the bottom of the box, which
should be kept in some cool cellar or
other dark spot out of the reach of
frost. The OPINION IS now very gener-
ally held that celery is a specific for
nervous troubles. Whether tins be
true or not, there is d constant in
crease Ill its consumption, at a rate
within ten years enormous. 1t is es-
timated that upward of one thousand
acres are planted of this crop to supply
the New York market alone, and as
fact showing to what extent it is
how grown for private use we may
state that a member of one of the seed
firms of this city told us the other day
that their sales to private parties in
lots of 100 to 1.000-which means
they were for private use only-ex-
ceeded $500 plants each year
New York Commercial Advertiser.
Why the Prairies are TreeIess.
The salvation of the great new
prairie empire of America depends IN
great measure on the feasibility of
cultiyating forests to serve its farmers
as windbreaks. The potency of a
grove of leafess trees in shielding one
from the winter winds is hardly
credible Its influence on the open
prairie reaches houses a mile distant.
The laws of all the northwestern
states favor the planting of forest
trees, and the subject employs not a
little of the rafting rhetoric of their
numerous orators. The expediency of
these laws was never questioned until
recently. A few months since a pro
fessor of Harvard university after ten
years of study pronounced these laws
useless and unscientific. The learned
professor announced that trees will
grow where they ought to grow and
will not grow where they oughtnot to