An acre of celery should reasonably yield from 250 to 350 crates, worth $2 per crate at the shipping point, or $500 to $700 an acre. The lowest net balance then would be $45 per acre, and the highest under the above estimate $565 an acre. Commercial growers as a rule figure on a net return of about $100 an acre, and cases are on record where an acre has produced $1,250 worth of celery at a cost of $450, or a net return of $800; this was accomplished on new Florida land, highly fertilized, and the crop sold for about 40 cents a dozen at the shipping point. Some of the growers in Michigan claim that celery can be produced for 15 cents per dozen with fair profit, but the net returns are certainly not large at this figure. Celery may undoubtedly be grown profitably for 25 cents per dozen at the shipping point, provided the crop does not fail oftener than one year in five. It is not desirable that a grower should begin on a large scale, but he should begin with I or 2 acres and gradually increase his acreage until he has all his labor can handle profitably.

CHAPTER XVI

The Production of Celery Seed

Localities Where Grown.-The greater portion of the world's supply of celery seed is grown in southern Europe and on the Pacific coast of the United States. A portion of the seed sold as French grown is produced in Algeria, but the greater part of it comes from Italy, where the cost of production is low. In America celery seed has been produced in several localities aside from the Pacific coast, especially in New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New York.

Method of Growing.--The principle of celery seed production is to sow seed during the latter part of the season in long narrow beds the surface of which is a trifle below the general level of the surrounding soil. As a rule these beds are 14 to 20 inches in width, and ample spaces left between them. The seedlings are allowed to grow in the beds during the autumn, and as winter approaches a light covering is provided to prevent the roots becoming frozen. As soon as the season opens in the spring, the plants are lifted and reset 6 or 7 inches apart in long parallel rows where they will produce seed during the early summer.

Local Production of Seed.-Any celery grower can produce seed on a small scale by making a late

sowing in a spent hotbed or in a cold-frame, allowing the plants to remain in the bed, with sufficient protection to prevent the roots becoming frozen, until the following spring. During the early spring the plants should be lifted and the most perfect ones planted in rows where they may be cultivated during the first part of the season, or until they shoot to seed. The flower stems are from 2 to 3 feet in height and the flowers and seeds are borne in umbels or clusters. As the seeds become ripened they should be gathered and spread on cloth screens in a shaded place until dry. The seeds should then be stored in a dry place until wanted for planting during the following winter or spring.

CHAPTER XVII

Celery Growing for Health, Pleasure and

Profit

IN the preceeding chapters we have considered the production of celery for home use and for marketing, but have given very little attention to the desirability of celery growing as a pleasant vocation. In the cultivation of a garden, or a small area of some much crop as celery, the business or professional man can find a source of refreshment and a means of relaxation from the every-day cares of life. There is something so clean and refreshing about the straight, regular rows of celery plants, and the color of the celery foliage is perhaps the most restful that the eye can look upon. An hour's time, either morning or evening, spent in the cultivation of a plot of celery will bring reward in more ways than the mere production of so many dozens of plants for home use or market. There is something about the smell of the fresh earth together with the odor of growing celery that will whet one's appetite to the point of starvation.

We hear a great deal about the nerve-building properties of celery, and the uses of celery as a tonic, but as digestion holds sway over both body and mind, we can readily conclude that the benefits arising from the cultivation and use of celery are large

ly through improved digestion. The main difference between the use of celery and other similar salad crops is found in the fact that owing to the superior

FIG. 57-FLORIDA CELERY LAND Rows slightly ridged, and evenly marked. Crop in double rows planted. The boxes over the inlets to system of subirrigation from an artesian well near by

flavor of celery we are inclined to eat it oftener and more bountifully.

Celery culture on a moderate scale is one of the most desirable lines of work for persons whose health demands that they live in outdoor life. During the early springtime the care of the plant beds will require but a short time each day; however, it