The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1897-11-26
Celery Culture simpliaed.

Celery Culture Simplihed.
In the bulletin published by the Wis.
consin Horticultural Society John
Rhodes writes as follows: This article
is intended for the home gardener and
not the commercial grower. Celery
prefers a deep black loan, which re-
tains moisture we'll, but sufficiently
drained to prevent saturation. AS to
varieties, individual taste should be
the guide. My choice would be Giant
Pascal or Golden Heart. Having pa
tronized seedsmen to the extent OF
finding something which suits, my ad-
vice would be to grow your W seeds.
After eating the tops, the roots may be
wintered in the cellar as easily as po-
tatoes. These roots planted the follow
ing spring, will bear seed abundantly,
which if dried before freezing and
kept dry will surely grow, and If no
other variety has been grown near 1T,
will be true to name. If more seed is
grown than needed it can be put
through a coffee mill and used for Tia
voring soups, meats, etc. Our plan IS
to SOW seed quite thick in drills n
do no transplanting, but thin out. when
an inch or two high, to six inches
apart. The seed is quite slow to ger
inmate and should be sowed shallow.
We usually draw a line, mark along
the line with the hoe handle, SOW seed
and rake it in. Thorough cultivation
through the summer is necessary.
keeping an earth mulch on the surface
to conserve moisture. When the
plants are eight or ten inches high,
b%lanching may be commenced. This
can be done with boards set on edge,
earth heaped around it, four-inch tile
slipped oyer it or common butchers "a
per wrapped around it and tied with
string-main principle being exclusion
of light; the leaves should be compress.
ed to prevent earth falling in the cen.
ter or crown Of plant. During the
| growing season the leaves should not
be entirely buried. One of my expert
ments was to use two-feet tile instead
of one-foot, slipped over small plants,
in the hope that the leaf stalks would
grow out of the tile two feet long and
beautifully blanched. After gazing in
or three weeks, 1 thought the plants
seemed to be growing down. Lifting
off the tile to investigate, every plant
was found dead. Verdict, died of i'm
prisonment! Would prefer fence
boards set on edge each side of row
some three or four inches apart, held
in place by stakes outside the boards.
Tie stakes opposite each other, at the
top a foot or more above first boards
and fill between the boards around Gel
cry with earth, combining the leaves
with one hand ana shoveling earth
with the other. AS the celery grows.
more boards may be slipped between
the stakes over the first boards and
filled in with earth as before. The best
time to eat celery is as o on as it is
large enough. Not every one is born
with a celery appetite. however. My
first attempt to eat the vegetable re-
quired the fortitude which we pray fol
when obliged to take a dose of castor
oil. But public opinion, science and
A4Ou1CdA duCAOA ACy, Aou uOSAoACo CAC
aromatic herb to be palatable and
healthful, therefore should it go down
even if a ramrod be used in the pro.
cess. Its taste daily grew more civil
lied and agreeable. The rest of the
family took to it as easily as young
ducks to water. The children are now
wide apart and have homes of thei1
own, but if they come to us in autumn
or early winter, they will have crisp
celery to remind them Of joyous child
hood and buoyant youth. The plants
will not stand much freezing and fol-
winter use should be carried down eel.
lar and planted in boxes, with plenty
of soil adhering to roots and filled be.
tween, watering as needed through q
funnel or hose to keep tops dry.