The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-04-19
New Celery Culture-Improved.

Those who have tried to grow celery
for market by the method known as
the new celery culture" have prob
ably found il difficult to blanch it per-
fectly. Boards cannot be easily used
for blanching it when the rows are Sc
close together They have also found
that unless large quantities of fertil-
izers and water are supplied. the
punches are too small to be market
able, and that frequent irrigation is re-
i quired because of the rapid escape of
moisture during the long, hot days in
summer. | think L have developed
some methods by which these diff
cuities have been largely overcome.
My experiments were not very salts
! factory with the new celery culture
until last year, when l grew very fine
/ celery in rows at an average distance
of one foot apart. Some of this celery,
marketed at a fancy price to some of
the summer resorts near my village,
paid me at the rate of $1,000 an acre;
and from one large plot of early celery
! l realized at the rate of between$2, 900
and $4,000 an acre. l am so well salts
/ fed with the results of my plan that
/ shall use it in my large celery-field this
/ year. The plot on which the celery was
grown had received a heavy dressing
of stable manure for several successive
years, and was very rich Another
! dressing was applied last spring and
plowed in, then the ground was finely
narrowed and smoothed with a light
plank drag and White Plume celery
plants set in May. Instead of setting
the plants in rows one foot apart, as
had been my custom. / set two rows
six or seven inches apart, leaving an
1S-inch space between the double rows.
Ny plan was to board two rows to-
-. Il II. -.
leave a space wide enough TO walk in
when placing the boards. The most of
the cultivating was done with wheel
hoe until the plants were eight or ten
inches high, when the blanching-
boards were set up and held in place
by crosspieces notched and set over the
top of the boards. 1t is very important
that the boards he kept well apart I'M
til the celery has nearly reached it's
growth, for the leaves must he kept
exposed to the air and sunlight. Near
the celery-feld is large brook. Water
from this was elevated into a large
tank, and used for irrigating purposes.
Iron pipes were laid from this tank
over the celery field. with hose attach
ments every few rods. In this tank
placed some loosely made bags filed
With poultry manure. After the water
had been allowed to stand a day or
two it was distributed along between
the celery rows with the hose. To re-
tain the moisture and keep the ground
from baking, the 1S-inch space between
the boards was mulched with manure
and other material. In short time it
grew above the top of the 1Sinch
boards, and in the dark space between
them soon commenced to blanch. 1t
grew over two feet high. and when the
boards were then crowded close to-
gether, the blanching was completed
in very few days. Every one who
saw it said it was the finest field of
celery they ever saw. I began to ship
it to the dealers in nearby villages and
to summer resorts along our railroad.
After thew had learned about the
quality of the celery the demand was
so great that l was unable to supply it.
and the field of celery was marketed in
a very short time. The celery grew so
rapidly that it was very tender and
there were no hollow stalks. l have
often been troubled with celery going
TO seed when planted so early. but on
this plot of celery, which was nearly
all marketed in August. hardly single
stalk went to seed. Celery grown in