along the sides of the beds. When the seed-bed is located on muck land, some protection is frequently necessary to prevent the loose soil blowing or shifting, and either covering the seedlings or blowing the soil from around their roots. In some parts of the country the sunshine is too strong for the young celery seedlings, and it is necessary to provide some form of shading to prevent their being

injured. Unbleached cotton, tobacco shading cloth, or wooden lath may be employed for this purpose, but the lath so arranged as to give about one-half shadow and one-half sunshine is most desirable.

Transplanting.-The young plants of celery are greatly benefited by transplanting. So long as the seedlings remain undisturbed in the plant bed they develop a central straight root with few laterals. In transplanting, this straight root becomes broken and as a result a large mass of rootlets are formed which work near the surface and feed the plant. The transplanting process also provides uniform space and development, rendering the plants better able to withstand the setting in the open field or

CELERY PLANTS

garden. The seedlings should be transplanted as soon as they are large enough to handle, or when they have about three true leaves. The soil in which the seedlings are transplanted should be made quite rich by the addition of well-rotted stable

manure and its condition will be

greatly improved

by screening.

FIG. 17-DEVICE FOR CUTTING ROOTS OF
CELERY PLANTS IN SEED-BED

The effect of transplanting is illustrated in Fig. 16, which shows celery plants from the same seeding, those on the left having been transplanted when about three weeks old, and those on the right having been left in the seed-bed until about six weeks

later, at which time the photo was taken. The transplanting process adds about $1 a 1,000 to the cost of growing the plants, and is not practical on a large scale. This method of handling will pay well for the early or small crop, but the late crop has more time for its development, and the transplanting process, although desirable, may be dispensed with.

Substitutes for Transplanting.-As a substitute for transplanting, a number of the northern growers employ a method of cutting under the plants and thus severing the straight root. This root pruning is generally performed ten days or two weeks before the plants are required for setting in the field, and causes numerous fibrous roots to be formed around the remaining portion of the straight root. The work of cutting the roots is executed by means of

some form of blade that can be run at a depth of about 2 inches below the surface of the soil. One of these cutting devices, as shown in Fig. 17, consists of a sharpened blade sharpened blade mounted on a frame and wheels similar to those of a warehouse truck. The blade can be adjusted to any desired depth and is removable for sharpening. Cutting the

main root of the plant also aids very materially in lifting the plants at planting time. After cutting, the plants should be well watered to prevent their wilting.

Proper Time to Plant Seed.-From the time the celery seed is sown until the crop is cut for packing, it should be the aim to maintain a steady and healthy growth. The seed-bed should contain sufficient available plant food to last throughout the time it is so occupied, and the plants should not receive a shock or rest at any time during their growth. When celery plants become overgrown or crowded in the seed-bed, or are allowed to remain too long in the transplanting bed before setting in the field or garden, they will undergo a check or rest that will be liable to cause them to run to seed later. Seed sown too early in the house, greenhouse, or hotbed will produce plants that are liable both to run to seed and to become pithy. In fact any severe check or prolonged period of rest is likely to answer the same purpose in the life history of the plant as wintering over, and it will then produce a seed stalk.

For the early crop in the North, sow the seeds indoors during the first week of March-the seedlings should appear by March 20-transplant to coldframes or to trays during the first or second week in April, and set in the garden the third week in May. This should produce celery ready for use by the middle of August. For the main or later crop, sow the seeds in cold-frame or protected beds during the first week of April, transplant during the