The dwarf and half-dwarf kinds are the best, as they are superior both
in quality and appearance and are much easier grown. Of these the
_Dwarf Golden Heart_ is one of the best varieties; the stalks
are very thick and solid, fine flavored, and blanch to a fine white,
excepting the centre, which is of a fine golden yellow.
[Illustration: NEW GOLDEN SELF-BLANCHING CELERY.]
GOLDEN SELF-BLANCHING.--The handsomest and most generally
satisfactory kind that I have ever planted. I know of none that can
equal it in appearance or quality; the stalks are large, straight,
crisp and very solid; it is very vigorous in growth, attaining a height
of one to one and a half feet, and I have had single plants of three
inches in diameter. The leaves of this variety are of a beautiful
golden yellow after the plant has been bleached, which adds greatly to
its handsome appearance when prepared for the table. The young plants
should be earthed up as soon as they are large enough to handle, and in
two weeks the celery will be in the finest order for the table, thus
gaining from one to two months over the ordinary kinds. The quality is
the finest and the stalks are crisp, brittle and delicious.
WHITE PLUME.--This is also a self-blanching variety, but not
to the same extent as the preceding kind. In this sort the inside
stalks are naturally white, and the leaves of these white stalks are
variegated in the most striking and beautiful manner, which gives it
the name and renders it the most ornamental variety grown. To bleach
the outer stalks the plant should be kept earthed up, and it will then
be ready for use at any time. It is not, however, so fine in the small
state as the Golden Self-Blanching, which is of fine eating quality
even when growing in the seed bed; the stalks are not so thick and
meaty in the White Plume, but have a strong “nutty” flavor.
CRIMSON OR RED CELERY.--The red celery is very handsome and
fine flavored when bleached, and after the self-blanching varieties is
the most desirable one to grow. It grows tall and straight, is crisp
and brittle, and when well blanched is a beautiful golden yellow, the
ribs and ridges being tinged with crimson.