CELERY ( Lat. parsley.
from Gk. ciiaor, se(imm, parsley) .tniuur gr(1 A biennial 111:11t of the natural order Umbelliferw. a native of Europe. now widely cultivated for which are blanched and eaten mw with salt. line form, is extensively grown on the Contini•nt of Europe for its root. The whole plant has an aromatic flavor.
The celery industry has had a rapid develop ment in the United States during recent years, owing largely to improved methods of culture. The method now in general use is to sow the seed in a hotbed. or for the late crop, in the open. transplant Once or and set in the field in level tows three or four feet apart mid six inches distant in the row. The stalks are blanched by heaping earth against the plants, setting up boards about a foot wide against the row on either side, or by wrapping the plants with paper or other material. In the so-called 'new celery culture' the rows are only 6 to 1• inches apart. The plants thus thickly grown are self-blanched and only the outside rows need pro tection from the light. Celery intended for summer or fall use is blanched when the plant. are well grown; that grown for winter use is taken up when cold weather come. MI and set in pits or a c...)01 cellar, the roots being packed in moist earth so that the plants may continue a slow growth while blanching. Celery is gen erally grown on a moist, rich, peaty soil, well drained and heavily fertilized hut good crops have been grown on fertile clayey and sandy up lands. The crop requires an abundance of moisture and fertilizer. Ceicrioc. or the mot form of celery. is handled about like celery. •x ••pt that it does not require blanching. It is little grown in America except where there is a Merman settlement. it is cooked and eaten with sauce. used in salads, and pickled. For illustra tion. :we Plate of SALAD PLANTS.
Some sixty varieties of celery are cultivated in the States. are dwarf varieties. scarce a foot high. while others grow nearly three feet high. The leaves may be green. white. or yellow. Paris holden or hoblen Self-Blanching. White Plume. giant Pascal. and Boston Market are aiming the varieties that are moist extensively grown.
Ce.t.Eav DtsrAsEs. Celery i. subject to a num ber of destructive parasitic diseases. The rust or sun-se:11d. due to ('crrospora is recognized by the gray or yellow splits upon the leaves. q• hp spots enlarge. rim together. and finally de stroy the leaf. The disease is more prevalent in dry situations than in moist ones. and where Celery is grown in very dry soils it should Le given some shade to prevent this disease. A leafddight, caused by Sept aria pi troschao nit:•k.. all parts of the plant above the ground. causing watery spots 011 stems and leaves. Black dot. soon appear in these areas anti the -pore arc widely scattered. .\ttention should be given to plants when setting them out that no diseased ones are used. If the plants are sound when planted. any good fungicide 14 v.) will prevent the spread of either of the above disease-. A fart rial disease is said to attack sonicr:Ilricties. causing their stalks to become watery and worth less. it also spreads in market, quickly causing the hearts to melt away into a slimy. worthless mass. In the market, celery should be kept very dry or else completely submerged in water to prevent this loss.
consult : Dugga• and Bailey. "Notes Finn Cel in Cornell University .Agrienitnral Experi ment Station /NW/in in (Ithaca, ls97); _Mas sey, "Growin“ Celery in the South." in North Carolina Agrieultural Experiment Station Bul b tin (Raleigh, 1892).