The Monmouth inquirer., 1898-11-17
CULTIVATION or CELERY.


which good quality of celery can bt
produced at a minimum cost. The fac
that one who is known as one of tht
best authorities in horticultural mat
ters has endorsed it, will recommend il
to your readers.
In the last few years there has been
an evolution in celery culture. The
old plan of setting the plants in 9
deep trench and banking them with
earth as they grew. was what we may
/ call the primitive method. Next the
plants were set on the surface of the
ground and the banking done with the
plow and hoe. Some one discovered
that all that was required to bIanch
celery was dark space for it to grow
in, and this could be made by setting
boards along the rows, or tying thick
paper around the plants so the plan
of blanching with boards came to be
largely used. The advent of the White
Plume" celery, which Is -blanching
to the extent that the plants will par
TALLY blanch. when set in beds with the
plants six or eight inches apart each
way, by their own shade, led to what
is known as the new celery culture. /"
But this method except perhaps in ex-
ceptional cases, was not a success, for
it gave too many culls that were not
marketable. 1t was because of my dis
satisfaction with this method of grow
ing celery, that | made some expert
ments to determine the best way to
use blanching boards in some system
of close planting, and the fact that on
One-tenth of an acre l grew 10000
lunches of celery-the greater part
more than two feet long, we'll blanched,
tender and crisp, which | sold for over
5000 is evidence of my success. will
briefly describe my plan as follows.
/ want moist, loamy soil, full of
humus to enable it to retain moisture,
and well drained. Then l want TO
cover it three or four inches deep with
a good quality OF stable manure com
mercial fertilizers are valuable for
celery, in my experience, only when
used in connection with manure. About
May 1, if in condition for working,
would plow and harrow until the soil
was very finely pulverized, then I
would mark 1t in alternate rows Of two
and one-half and one foot apart. This
makes a double row with one foot space
between it, with a two and one-half
foot space between the double rows. In
these rows set early in May, six
inches apart in the row, for the early
crop, white Plume celery plants The
seed is sown in March under glass, and
in April the seedlings are pricked out
in frames The wide space is culti-
waited with a Planet Jr. 12-tooth culti-
vator, and the narrow space with a
wheel hoe. These / can run so close
to the plants as to leave only space
of one inch on each side of the row
to be weeded by hand
When the celery grows to height
of IL to 18 inches, set up the blanch-
ing boards along the double rows
These boards will be little more than
one foot apart with two rows of celery
between them. The boards make
dark space for the plants to grow in,
and they soon commence to blanch. In
rich soil the plants will grow above the
blanching boards (Which should be
from 12 to 18 inches wide) several in
ches. when the boards are crowded
close together. This completes the
blanching in few days. The boards
must be kept well apart until the
plantc houo or.ovuy ohouo fbo,,, op6
held in position by stakes set against
them or the foliage will get wet inside
The boards and decay. After the boards
are set up, the space between them can
be mulched with manure or other
material, to retain moisture. This is
almost necessary unless irrigation is
practiced, but the system is not COM
plete without supply of water avail
able for irrigation, and on my celery
fields | am able to irrigate from a
tank in which liquid manure is made.
If irrigation is used, one can grow
plants OF fair size by making the
rows 18 inches and inches alternately,
but the punches will not be quite so
heavy, and the cultivation must be all
done by hand cultivators. With a
two and one-half foot space between
the double rows, after the blanching
boards are set up the last Of July, a
second crop of late celery can be grown
by setting two rows of plants IL to IS
inches apart between them. The boards
will partially shade them, and they will
be irrigated at the same time with the
early celery, making the conditions
| just right for them to grow rapidly. In
I two or three weeks the early crop is
removed and the whole ground given
to the late crop.
If one wishes to practice a stiN more
intensive system he can plant onion
sets between the rows of the early
celery, and bunch and market them for
green onions before it IL time to plant
the second crop Of celery. With such a
system of cropping the ground, from
one-fourth to one-half an acre would
be sufficient for one man to work, and
4 the essentials of succesg-gOod soil,