Page:How and what to grow in a kitchen garden of one acre (IA howwhattogrowin00darl).pdf/82

 the manure with a fine rake until the manure is covered about three inches. This will still leave a depth of about two inches below the surface, which will serve to draw and retain the rain water, or, in a dry time, can be flooded with a hydrant hose or irrigating ditch. Where the ground has been heavily enriched or the celery is planted as the first crop—that is, when no early vegetable precedes it on the same ground—no manure is used in the trench or furrow, which is plowed out in the same way, the additional depth assisting in the labor of earthing up for blanching. To obtain fine quality and appearance the plant should be pushed to as rapid a growth as possible from the time the seed is sown until the stalks are ready for use; if allowed to become stunted, the stalks will be knotty in appearance and bitter in taste.

For my own use and marketing I usually sow seed of two or three varieties, so that if one kind fails for any reason, I may still have a crop sufficient for the table from the other varieties, while if it is all good I have no difficulty in disposing of the surplus; this is the more easily done, as it occupies ground that has been cleared of early peas, corn, etc. Another point in not confining your planting to the one variety is that the handsome “Self-blanching” varieties are not good keepers, and as the older kinds take a long time to whiten, and a good deal of cold weather to develop the fine flavor, they are about ready for use when the early kinds are gone.

While celery is raised as a second crop and has always been considered to require frost to develop the fine nutty flavor, at least one row in the garden should