The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1890-10-04
CELERY CULTURE.
Some Practical Hints as TO Banking,
Gathering for Market and Pitting.


Some Practical Hints as to Banking,
Gathering for Market and Pitting.
As soon as tho early crops have becn
cleared from between the celery rows,
furrow should be plowed away from
each side Of the row with one-horse
plow; the burrows should not 60 nearer
than fifteen inches to each row. After
plowing away, turn about and plow back
thus filling the furrow up again and con.
tinue to plow back until dead furrow
is made in the blank space between the
rows. This operation will loosen the
soil that the roots may expand, thus
making larger growth Of top
The banking of celery is one of the
laborious operations of the gardener.
To render the soil for banking more
easily handled, the one-horse plow is
run between the rows. Two separate
bankings will be required to complete
the job BY the first the plants should
be covered about half way up, and an
interval OF six days should pass before
the second banking. The object of the
first banking will be to run the hearts
of the stocks up, which 1t docs, as they
try to get to the light and air. Very
late in the fall, II the celery is to re-
main in the ground until Thanksgiving,
third barking will be required to in.
sure that the tops shall not be injured
by hard frosts. Banking can be best
performed by employing three men at
1t. One straddles the row, walking
backwards as he gathers together the
branches or stocks Of each individual
plant thus putting it in an upright po.
sition. The other two men, one on each
side of the row, shovel the earth around
the plants. care being taken that 1t does
not get in to the center OF the hearts.
Gathering and preparing celery for
market are rather slow operations. The
first move is to p]ow down the bankings
with q one-horse plow. This having
been done, the pillow is run under the
row Of plants, lifting them from the
ground. Most of the green leaves are
then pulled off the plants, the blanched
stocks only being left The fibrous
roots are next trimmed off with long
pointed shoe-knife; great care should
be exercised in trimming lest the
sprouts should be cut Two large wash
tubs, such as iron-bound hogsheads
sawed in two, are used for washing the
celery. AS the plants are trimmed, all
the adhering dirt is washed off with the
hands and corn brooms in tub No. |,
after which the plants are rinsed in tub
No. 2; then they are laid upon a table
to drain. In boxing, the demands OF
the market are that three dozen lunches
should fill barrel box even full; but
as many plants will not count for one,
several smaller ones are pinned together
by driving an eight-penny board nail
through the lower stock or base of the
root
The pitting of celery is rarely COM
menced until November 1, and is fin
ished by the middle of the month. II
the operation is performed much earlier,
there is danger that the mild weather
will rot it. Previous to that
date it keeps much better in
the bankings, but these should bo
we'll built to prevent possible hard
freeze from destroying the tops. 1t is
common to leave in the bankings all
that can be conveniently taken care OF
and sold at Thanksgiving-time; but
there is some risk in leaving it out SO
late. The ground sometimes closes in
just previous to that date, so that the
celery can not be got out.
For late keeping in the winter celery
should not be banked long previous to
pitting-the greener it is the longer it
can be kept If, therefore, one COM
mences banking about the middle of
October he will be about right. The
ground at that time is quite cool and
the celery bleaches slowly, therefore, it
will be quite green at pitting-time.
Much depends upon its keeping we'll in
the pit. 1t should be kept at as low
temperature as possible without risk of
freezing, but should we want to market
it early in the winter the heat can be
increased by putting on the roof of
the pit considerable thickness of
litter or covering; otherwise, only a
very light covering should be used
until Christmas. After that the covering
should be increased to about one foot
in thickness. Celery when green will
stand light freeze, but the same freeze
would destroy bleached celery. Rural
New Yorker.