The St. Johns herald., 1922-10-05
 CELERY, CONSIDERED AT ONE TIME
 AS NOVELTY, NOW IMPORTANT CROP


(Prepared by the United States Department
 of Agriculture.)
 From crop that was a novelty and served on the tables of only few peo- pie to an industry that has produced as many as 100000 crates in a year has been the development of celery production within the memory of many people now living. With the rapid in- crease in the growing of the crop, methods of culture and marketing have materially changed, new diseases and pests have appeared, and a num- Der of problems have arisen. Because of these new problems and difficulties, the United States Department of Agri- culture has just issued Farmers Bull letin 1269, Celery Growing, by W. R. Beattie, in which are discussed the fundamentals of successful production, including the best methods of growing and handling the crop.
 The crop can be grown on almost any type of soil if enough plant food Is present and water is supplied dur ing the dry periods, but most of the successful celery-growing enterprises are on low-lying muck, or hammock soils. Under present-day conditions it Is not practicable to depend entirely on manure as a fertilizer and large quantities of commercial fertilizer are used, growers in the northeastern part of the country using from 1,400 to l. 800 pounds of high-grade plant food to the acre Florida growers sometimes use as much as three tons to the acre. But not all of the discussion is de voted to the commercial growing of celery. There is a chapter on prOduc- ing the crop in the home garden, and many of the practices that have been developed are'applicable no matter on what scale it is grown.
 Copies of the new bulletin may be obtained free by writing to the United States Department of Agriculture, Washington.
 Was Once a Luxury.
 Celery was once a fall and winter luxury associated with turkey and cranberry sauce, but now it is eaten during the entire year and the prOduc- tiOn of ''early'' celery has become a big business. Most of the commercial crop is grown in the region of the Great Lakes, and also in New Jersey and Massachusetts, in Florida and in California The muck soils of the northwestern section are of the right texture, usually high in nitrogen but deficient in potash and phosphorus In addition to muck sells, good crops are grown on level sandy loams, such as are found in the vicinity of Rochester, N. T., in northeastern New Jersey, on Long island, and in many other locali- ties.
 Commercial fertilizers used as rule contain about to per sent of nitro gen, 8 per cent of phOsphoric acid, and 6 or per cent of potash. The mixed fertilizer is usually followed by one or two side dressings of nitrate of soda or sulphate of ammonia during the growing period in the field. Where manure is used it is usually applied in the fall and plOwed under, then re- turned to the surface :n the spring by replOwing or is composted and spread over the land after blowing and disked into the soil the same as commercial fertilizer Most muck soils are easily put in the right condition and require only blowing and about two diskings and two draggings lore. diSkings and draggings, however, are needed on newly reclaimed mucks.
 Seed Largely Imported.
 Most of the celery seed is imported but there are a few producers of high grade seed in the United States and some. growers grow their own seed. The old idea was that strictly fresh seed is necessary, but recent experi- ments have shown that four-year-old seed gives greater freedom from dis ease and in many respects is prefer able to fresh seed. However, much depends upon the way the seed has been handled, as great changes of tenn perature reduce it's vitality. There are