CELERY.
In its wild state, celery is a rather fleshy rooted weed, on waste land in parts of Europe, with a top of cut leaves, and flower clusters of the umbrella type. It belongs in the same family with parsley, carrots, parsnips, and fennel. No one would think of tasting either root or leaf stalk, for the sap is poisonous and bitter. But out of that unpromising weed has come by cultiva tion a vegetable that is as wholesome as it is delicate in flavor and handsome in appearance. It is universally popular with all classes of people.
Improvement in celery culture has produced self-blanching varieties, and developed from a winter vc:Ntable varieties for all seasons. The old method of growing celery in trenches has been 1-,y the easy method of growing it on the garden level, and hilling up the rows, when the time comes, to blanch the stems. From a special crop, that only market gardeners could raise successfully, celery has become a common crop, in anybody's and everybody's garden, great or small.
Nearest to the wild celery, that grows in wet ground near the sea, is the soup celery of European cottage gardens, a many-stemmed, green plant whose mild leaves lack the poisonous qualities of the wild celery, and have the nutty flavor of the blanched varieties. The leaves are cut as needed, and minced like parsley to flavor soups and salads. New leaves come on, so the plant is productive for months.
In England a red-stemmed celery is very popu lar. But the ideal variety in America has stalks solid, tender, and white to the leaves.
The richest moist loam, like pond muck, is the best celery soil. From the seed bed the little plants are set out, and given cultivation that keeps the soil mellow and clean, and keeps them growing. Gradually the earth is banked higher on each side of the row, till only a tuft. of top leaves stick out. Now the stalks have been blanched, and the crop is ready for market. Each plant is trimmed free from its outer, rough leaves, the root shortened to a V, and the top docked.
Sometimes celery is banked between parallel boards, close to the row, and filled with earth. Rarely a celery bed is filled with earth about the plants, and a board wall placed around the whole plot. Self-blanching varieties are early, and re quire little help from the gardener to prepare them for market, which comes in summer time.
The principal use of celery is to be eaten raw with salt. It is served with the meat courses at dinner. Next in importance comes its use cut up in salads usually with nuts, fruits or other vegetables. More rarely it is boiled as a vege table, and dressed with butter or a cream sauce.
It is much used as a seasoning for soups and stews. The roots are good for this purpose, and eaten raw are more nutty and sweet than the leaves. So they should never be discarded. Celery seeds are very good in salads and for seasoning. They are sold by grocers for this purpose. They are so light and small that it takes about 50,00o of them to weigh an ounce.
Celeriac, or turnip-rooted celery, is a variety that is useful as a root vegetable and as seasoning, when sliced or grated into soups. The stems of this variety are tough and hollow and short. Development has gone in quite a different direc tion from that which produced the white, succu lent stalks of the ordinary celery on our tables. Celeriac is not so commonly raised in our gardens as it deserves. Those who grow it say that it is easy of culture. It adds to the winter store in the root cellar another wholesome vegetable.
Celery has valuable medicinal properties, that act favorably upon the general system of those who eat it freely. Its value is recognized by makers of patent medicines. But sensible people will prefer to take their celery as it comes to the table, from the garden, rather than in liquid form, out of a bottle.