The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1910-08-02
CELERY.
Clemson Extension WOrk-Arti-
Gle 16.
X x X * ): x * x *

= x = >:
Celery is ordinarily grown for its
large feshy leaf stalks, which are
eaten raw with salt and also used for
seasoning salads The seed is also
extensively used for seasoning pur-
poses. Cel:riac or turnip-rooted Gel
cry is grown for its large roots. which
are used for seasoning salads.
1t is grass feeder, and though the
sol selected be reasonably fertile, 8 or
10 tons of barnyard manure should be
applied per acre and thoroughly in
ccrporated with the soil before plant
ing. On land that will produce 40
bushels of corn per acre, not less
than 1000 pounds of fertilizer con-
tanning I per cent. available phos-
phoric acid, per cent. nitrogen and
s per cent. potash should be applied
per acre.
Celery seed ere planted in frames
in March. The rows are marked off
SIX inches apart and about one hall
inch deep. Ten to IS seed are soWn
to every inch of row and covered
lightly with sifted soil After the
seed are planted the bed should be
sprinkled lightly and then shaded
with bags or burlap until the young
plants begin to appear. Then the
bags or burlap should be removed and
a lath screen used in its place.
After the seed have been sown the
surface of the soil in the plant bed
should be allowed to become dry un-
til the plants have become we'll es-
tablished. The use Of the lath screen
may gradually be discontinued after
the plants have formed the fourth or
fifth leaf.
When the plants are about three
inches high they should be thinned to
one inch apart in the row. The plants
removed may be transplanted to 9TH
er beds and will produce as good, If
not better, plants than those not
transplanted to the field during the
summer months, when it is very hot
and the soil unusually dry. 1t is,
therefore, necessary to water the
plants as they are set out. The tops
of the plants should be clipped back
to about half their length about two
weeks before transplanting to the
field and vatered sparingly the last
week before transplanting. An hour
before the plants are removed from
the beds they should be watered free
ly.
If the celery is to be blanched by
earth, the rows should be marked off
five feet wide and the plants set five
inches apart in the row. II the dou-
bic row System is used, each Set OF
double rows should be six feet wide
and the plants set six inches apart
each way.
It is very important to have stocky
plants to transplant to the field, as
it is very difficult to get the small
ones to live, and they never grow Oft
as rapidly as plants of larger size.
Plants that have been given ample
distance in the seed bed will be from
six to eight inches tall and very
stocky at transplanting time.
The amateur grower frequently
makes the mistake Of setting the
plants too deep in the soil. The
plants should not be set deeper in the
field than they stood in the plant bed.
If the plants are set in the bottom Of
a furroW. as is sometimes practiced,
the bud will be covered by soil wash
ing from the sides of the trench and
many of them will die. When the
plants are set in a slight furrow made
by the marker and the soil drawn
about them, the bud of the plant
should be on a level With the surface
Of the soil =.
The plants should be taken from the
bed with a small block Of soil attach
ed to the roots if possible. To do this
a heavy knife with a blade about six
inches long is passed along each side
Of the rows one and one-half inches
from the plants, cutting about three
or four inches deep. 1t is then pass
eG between the plants in the rows
cutting the same depth. The plants
are then removed with the block Of
soil and roots attached, pressed light
ly in the hand to prevent the soil from
being shaken off in handling. The
plants are then covered with wet bags
or h1r1an and when thus protected