"To make celery white all over we have to keep the sun from shining on it.
For it is the rays of the sun, together with the juices, or sap, inside
leaves and plants, that makes them green. Celery has to be bleached, and
one way of doing it is to set long boards on each side of the row of
celery plants, fastening them close up, and covering them with straw and
dirt to keep out all the light.
"Some farmers bank up the dirt on both sides of their plants, not using
any boards, but I like the boards because they are clean, and keep the
soil from getting inside the celery stalks. Another way is to put a small
wooden tube, or barrel around each plant so that no sunlight can get to
the sides of the stalk to make them green."
"Isn't it queer," said Mab. "I thought celery always grew white, like we
get it at the table. And so it has to be bleached. If you keep the light
from anything green will it turn white, Daddy?"
"Well, almost anything, like plants. Children turn pale if they do not get
enough sunlight and so does celery. Only we like pale celery but it is not
healthful for children to be too white. Just try a little experiment
yourself.
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