PRICE 50 CEITTS. ImiOO OELfyy ; BY- I ( i * I * * #. # # * j 5. Jfafl Bochove & Bro., Kalamazoo, Mich, i Sk LIBRARY \{AhAfAAZOO ....(ekeRy. f tii ini Its Cultivation and Secret of Success. G. Van ^ochove <&• 5 ro * (Copyrighted 1886, by G. Van Bochove & Bro.) KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN: C- H- Barnes & Co., PriQters and Eogravers, J896. ^iNoex.s^ Cultivation and Secret of Success Soil and Irrigation. Drainage. Seeding. Manure. Transplanting. Onions. First Crop. Second Crop. Third Crop. Cultivating. Hilling and Blanching. Boards. Preparing for Market. Winter Storing. Coops . Storing in Trenches. Seed Raising. Varieties . Tables of Plants and Boxes. Sizes of Boxes. Profits. History. Our Busines. (, 34 . 135 1 / 2 .1 -k. I tm KAIsA/VIAZOO ( ibERV. CULTIVATION AND S6CR6T OF success. RECEIVING from time to time many kind requests from abroad, to give in mathematical numbers the mysterious formula which has made Kalamazoo Cel¬ ery famous through the inhabit¬ ed portion of the earth, has led to this publication. It became impossible to answer fully all these requests in writing to each one. We trust that these patrons and our many garden¬ ing friends will pick up some useful hints from these pages, and that fortune and the rising tide of this delicious vegetable will extend its green waves farther inland every year. Perhaps its magnificent growth and perfection about this city cannot be surpassed in any other part of the country. But the wide-spread opinion that it cannot be equaled elsewhere is perhaps an error. SOIL AND IRRIGATION. Selection of soil is of the utmost importance to the successful growing of celery. Land ill adapted to celery, highly manured and prop¬ erly handled, will not bring satisfactory returns. The crop will be inferior; which means a slow market and great waste. It is better to pay $500 per acre for properly condi¬ tioned soil than $100 for poor land. The in¬ creased expense and inferior crops will soon make up the difference in cost. The soil must be muck, and around this city it has a depth of from one to ten feet. It is formed of decayed vegetable matter. Some of the best land is very soft and boggy, so much so that it will not bear up a horse, and must be all spaded by hand. The only objection to this is the expense—about $30 per acre. In select¬ ing a piece of land, dig down on every half acre and examine the quality of the muck, its depth and the character of the sub-soil. And for this purpose, if possible, employ an experi¬ enced man. It is well worth while to spend one day in making an exceedingly careful ex¬ amination. Reject it if only one foot deep, with clay sub-soil; as in hilling and bleaching this clay must be used and is too hard to use with profit; and so little muck will dry out too quick. But if the sub-soil is porous and loose, it will do, especially if you can control irriga¬ tion by damming the main ditch. However, 4 the soil should be at least eighteen inches deep. The muck should not be loose, light and turfy when dry. It may burn, but should not be peat that is excellent for fuel. But even this may answer, and grow better every year, if proper irrigation is under complete control, so that the standing surface of water in this deep muck may be raised from below, to stand for a short time at a distance of from one to two or three feet from the surface of the land. The water can stand longer at three feet. After it has once been soaked, the muck will retain this moisture for a long time, and it should be allowed to warm up again at once. This irrigation can be easily overdone, and to the damage of the crop. But if the muck is fine and pasty, the surface of permanent moist¬ ure below may be kept lower down—three, four or five feet. This muck is very black and much lighter than upland, and in hilling up and for all other work, from seed time to harvest, takes but one- half the labor. Celery can be grown on almost any good soil, if well enriched, but will not be profitable unless the soil is muck, and at least sixteen or eighteen inches deep. On its native heath of Britain it loves the low sour places of the marsh. Better have standing water at twenty to thirty-six inches from the surface than to have it dry out in the summer heat. The people engaged in the cultivation of 5 Kalamazoo celery are mostly Hollanders, and by long experience are well adapted to this work. They come from a country reclaimed from the sea bed, protected by dykes and dried by ditches. Unlike the American, the Hol¬ lander delights to work this low, wet land. Each man grows from one to three acres, as much as he and his family can tend, and no more. The struggle for existence, successfully maintained for generations in his native land, cautions him to employ no labor but his own. There are, indeed, some old market gardeners and enterprising firms who have from ten to twenty and thirty acres growing in one solid body—the rows unbroken for one quarter of a mile and beautifully straight. The sight would well repay a visit from a distance. DRAINAGE. Although needing moisture, the first foot in depth should not be wet, and the land should be drained in the following manner: Com¬ mencing at the lowest point, cut a two or three foot ditch, one foot wide at the bottom, and three at the top; thus giving a slope that the freezing and thawing of winter will not break down. The deeper the ditch, the greater the extent of land drained, but the celery is of no better quality for deep drainage. Indeed, the contrary is often true, and it is a question whether Kalamazoo would to-day be known as 6 a celery city but for the fact that it was impos¬ sible, south of the city, to so lower the streams as to properly ditch the land. And to-day, over a great extent of the best celery land, the crop grows within eighteen inches of standing water. Under these conditions there is danger of great damage to the crop, when the rains of summer have filled the land and ditches with water. And if by the continuance of high water in the stream, the plant itself is covered with water for two days, it will be destroyed. The distance apart that the ditches should be dug, depends on the wetness of the soil and the fall to the land. If quite wet, three rods apart, and four or five where solid enough for pasture or where it can be readily plowed. On this point, experience alone can construct a complete table of rules. If the slope is good, they may be placed a little further apart. The best time to dig the ditch is in the fall, so that the land will be drained before spring and the coming work. If the land to be worked is sod, we should commence upon it early in September or October and spade it, but plow it if we could. If too soft for a team, as is often the case, two shoes are fastened to the hind feet. If this is insufficient, two more are buckled to the fore feet. The horse will some¬ times sink to his body even then. Still the land is frequently too soft for these appli¬ ances, and the entire crop must be raised by 7 hand labor. The shoes are made from a light piece of tough wood, like elm, 6 or 8 inches in diameter. An iron cleat is fastened to the bottom with screws. The foot of the horse is then placed on the block a little to the inside, the calks of the shoe marked and cut out until the shoe rests on the block. Iron bands are then bolted on the block. These are bent and brought around to front of the hoof, about inches high from the block, leaving one inch space between the irons. From this space the iron is bent straight out one inch long; holes punched in the end, a small bolt slipped through and tightened with a nut. The shoes should not be made too heavy, well fitted, and not rub the hoof of the horse. Use a steel plow and keep it sharp with a file. Plow shallow and joint the furrow slice, so that it will lie flat. Put on a roller, so it will not roll up in dragging. Drag at once, filling all the crevices and hastening the decomposition of the sod. Now the frost sets in and does won¬ derful work, raising it up four or five inches each time it freezes hard, and in thawing letting it fall back, grain by grain. The land will now work much easier for the early fall plowing and the crop be improved. As soon as the ground can be worked in spring, run over with a cultivator, or cutting harrow, until the ground is thoroughly fine.. 8 It is then covered with one or two inches of well rotted manure and thoroughly harrowed in. The ground is now ready for the plants. Another plan is to mark out your rows the required distance and place on the row two inches of thoroughly rotted manure, ten inches wide. This is well mixed with the soil and the plant is then set in. An excellent crop of celery can be raised from new land the first year, provided the soil is properly prepared. We have grown some of our finest celery on new land, the first year. We do not advise growing more than one crop at first. This should be a late crop, and can be planted any time in July, giving plenty of time previous to planting for the cultivation of the land. If the ground has been well worked before, it should not be plowed until one week before the time of planting. The reason is, if plowed long before planting time, it would need culti¬ vating to keep down the weeds. One week previous to the planting, the manure is spread to a depth of one or two inches and plowed under. The land is now harrowed fine and is ready to receive the plants. Begin to plow at the center of the strip and leave a furrow next the ditches. This gives the surface a little slope from the center to the ditches. When the lots are plowed in this way, the water from the heavy rains is more 9 easily carried off. The furrow will gradually fill up, by the working of the land. The small grower can use this method, unless very little is grown, when it would be economy to spade it instead of plowing. SEEDING. One ounce of celery seed will give from 5,000 to 10,000 plants. For early celery the seed should be sown in a hot-bed, from March i to 15. These plants will do to transplant outside from May 1 to June 10, which is as early as we dare to risk the plants outside. This crop is sold off during July and August. There is great danger in sowing early, as the plants sometimes run to seed after transplant¬ ing. One grower here the past season, had two-thirds of all his early stock run to seed. This is the worst case we have known, but nearly all have more or less seeding from early sowing. These plants grow up in one tough stalk, unfit for use. We recommend that the plants in the hot¬ bed be cooled off and hardened before setting in the open groiind. If grown in this way they are less liable to run to seed. For the main crop, we sow the seed as soon as the ground can be worked in the spring; commencing here the 20th of April and making sowings every few days until the 20th of May; so as to have at all times nice young plants. 10 The plants from the last sowing will be Suita¬ ble to transplant as late as August. The seed is sown broadcast, in beds three feet wide, any length, having one foot between the beds for an alley. Or, they may be sown in rows. We prefer to sow in rows, in the following manner: Select the mellowest and best pulverized spot to be found, and cover it with two inches of fine well rotted manure. It is then turned ’ lightly under with a spading fork, breaking fine any lumps with the back of the fork, which in this work, is much better than a spade. Now rake it fine with a steel rake, and firm with a roller, making the surface level and entirely free from lumps. Lines are now laid out by the marker, ten inches apart. Sow the seed in these rows very thin, carefully and evenly distributing the seed. Rake in the seed very lightly, and not too deep; one-sixteenth of an inch is deep enough, and to cover it no deeper, the soil must be very fine. Once more firm the soil with a roller. If no roller is at hand, use a board in the following manner: Start from the end of the bed, lay the board down, walk over it, turn it over and walk back, repeating the process until all is firmed. Use a roller lengthwise, not crosswise, and judg¬ ment about the wetness of the soil. If the bed becomes very dry, give it a thorough soaking when you do water it. If it continues dry when the plants are coming up, give the beds 11 another soaking. In all cases, do the watering late in the afternoon. If not watered in the hot and dry weather they will fail when so small. As a rule, the seed is sown too thick, and to insure good stocky plants they must be severely thinned. Unthinned, they will be spindling plants, with poor roots. Celery seed is slow to germinate, taking from two to three weeks, according to the weather. As soon as the rows can be seen, hoe lightly between them and pick out the weeds in the rows by hand. Make a practice to carry the weeds from the garden, for if left between the rows they are pretty sure to grow again; certainly in wet weather. We urge you to pick out the weeds as soon as they can be seen. This will save time, labor, and the plants will be much finer, and this means a better product. When two inches high, we commence to transplant. These are small, but they grow well on our soil and our object is to thin out the remaining plants. As these advance in growth, the tops are cut off, usually twice before planting. This induces stocky growth, and they suffer less when transplanted. Young plants are prefer¬ able to those that have stood in the seed bed several weeks. If only a few hundred plants are needed, buy them, as they are troublesome to raise, but grow them yourself if a large quantity is 12 needed. These plants can generally be bought for $2 per thousand. Many strangers visiting our gardens en¬ quire if we manure the soil any as it seems to them rich enough without, and are surprised when told that from one to two inches rotted manure are plowed under every year. No matter how rich the soil may seem, if not well manur¬ ed you cannot expect a good crop of celery. MANURE. To grow celery to perfection requires abun¬ dance of manure. We have discarded com¬ mercial fertilizers, as here they have not given satisfaction, and now use only stable manure. The celery growers of Kalamazoo prefer stable manure to anything else they can obtain, and purchase all they can from the city and sur¬ rounding country. The rapid decomposition of this material is assisted by all the little arts known to the gardener, the object being to have it well rotted. The long manure may be used in the wet places. This will loosen the soil and help it to become somewhat dryer. In the application of manure, three different methods are used. ist—It is scattered on broadcast and plowed under. 2d—It is placed in trenches and covered with dirt. 3rd—It is placed on the row and spaded under. We recommend the first, however, although it takes more this way than if put in trenches. When 13 broadcasted it should be well rotted and spread over the surface from one to two inches thick. Plow at once five to six inches deep. Celery- roots do not grow very deep, but spread out over the surface, and when growing, no place in the garden can be dug into without striking the roots; indeed, it occupies all the land and the muck is filled with roots. If the manure is placed in trenches, the land is not plowed. Trenching is very gener¬ ally practiced, especially among the small grow¬ ers, where nearly all the work is done by hand. The double winged shovel plow is used in mak¬ ing the trench at the desired distance apart for the rows. The trenches are five inches deep. Two inches of well rotted manure is placed therein and covered with three inches of mel¬ low soil, and it is ready for the plants. If the manure is raw, a couple of weeks should elapse before the plants are set. By the third method, the manure is spread where the rows will stand, and of the same thickness as in the trench, and the width of a spading fork. It is then spaded under and the soil struck with the spading fork. If this should not be level and fine enough, go over it with a rake. TRANSPLANTING. If possible, this must be done on a cloudy 14 day. If not, commence about 3:00 in the af¬ ternoon and continue until dark. We always set the plants five inches apart and on the level surface. The carefully pulled plants are held evenly in one hand, until full, when the leaves and points of the roots are cut off. They are then placed in a pan, with wet soil at the bot¬ tom and carefully shaded. The plants suffer less with tjie leaves cut, and set quicker and straighter with the roots trimmed. Straight setting is important. Puddle the plants in dry weather, and give a good soaking afterwards. If the sun does not shine you can do so any time of day, but don’t water in the sun before 4 p. M. In the sun the watered leaves that touch the ground will burn. A man pulls the plants and a boy carries them to the planters, who use for a dibble a small piece of rounded wood, six inches long and sharpened. Many use their fingers to plant with, so fine and soft is the soil, which is pressed firmly about the plant and it immedi¬ ately takes root. If loosely set in coarse ma¬ terial and dry, it takes time to start, and then, should the weather continue hot and dry, it will die. Set the plant to the crown of the root and no more, for if much deeper the heart may become covered and the growth impeded. If only one crop is desired, and for winter use, mark out the rows three feet apart. If it is to be marketed before storing time, it should be 15 four feet, when the dwarf kinds are grown and six feet when the Giant and other large kinds are used. Less width will not give sufficient space for hilling. These plants also must be set eight inches apart in the row. This makes great loss of labor and ground. For eight years past the growers here have raised nothing but the dwarf varieties, raising thereby one-fourth more to the acre. The object sought for by the growers of Kalamazoo celery is quality and not quantity. But if quantity is desired, grow giant varieties. When advisable to grow but one crop of celery during the season, a crop of early veg¬ etables or onions can be raised to great advan¬ tage in connection with it. In this direction, practice here is confined almost entirely to onions, and we will describe the method. ONIONS. The ground is heavily manured in the spring, plowed and worked under. Onion seed is sown in drills, twelve inches apart, leaving every fourth row for a row of Celery. This onion crop will be ready about the first of Sep¬ tember; it is then pulled and left on the land about two weeks to cure. If the onion tops shade the celery in August, they should be bent over without loosening the bulb. Celery is planted in, from the first to the fifteenth of July. If wanted for winter it can be planted 16 as late as August i. Our object in early planting is to market the crop before storing away in winter quarters. A horse cannot be used to cultivate the on¬ ions. A hand cultivator is used, or a pronged hoe. FIRST CROP. To grow two good crops of celery, the seed for the first must be sown in a hot-bed as de¬ scribed before. These plants are ready from the fifteenth of May to June i. Rows are marked out, five feet apart with the dwarf kinds. This crop comes to market in July and August. By the first of July the young plants raised out of doors are ready to set, and are planted on the level surface, between the rows of the first crop, which you will begin hilling about two weeks hence. Planted at these dates, celery can be marketed daily until all is sold* SECOND CROP. Two crops from outside plants may be grown, by setting the first as soon as they are large enough, which will here be June 20th. From this date, continue setting to July 1, and if possible, no later; and in rows five feet apart. Now wait until the tenth of July, when you can begin to set the second crop between the rows of the first crop, and continue until August 1. 17 To cut the trench for the second crop, about four inches deep, use a double-winged shovel plow, throwing the dirt out each way, towards the growing celery, but not upon it. The trench is then raked level at the bottom and is then ready to receive the plants. This trench is left about four inches deep. If this is not done, the earth to hill the first crop will be insufficient, as at that time the second crop is quite large and its roots would be robbed and left bare. Another method of growing two crops is to have hot-bed plants for the first crop, marking out the rows three feet apart. This will be ready for market the latter part of July and August and must all be blanched with boards. About seven or eight weeks after planting, the boards should be placed against the celery. Do this before setting the second crop, if pos¬ sible, and thereby save much trouble in the work. The second crop should be planted from the 15th of July to the 10th of August. This crop must all be stored for winter, as rows at three feet apart will only give ground suffi¬ cient for the first hilling, and not enough to finish the blanching, which is completed in coops constructed for this purpose. THIRD CROP. Some land about this city is so splendidly 18 adapted to celery, and so heavily manured, that three crops are grown in one season. Those who do so, select the richest soil; this is covered with manure in the spring. The rows are laid out five feet apart and the first crop set from hot-bed plants as soon as the weather will permit. The second is then set between the rows of the first crop, from plants raised outside, as soon as they are large enough. The first is marketed from the 20th of July to the 10th of August. As soon as the first crop is taken out the third is planted in the same row that the first is taken from. The second crop is sold off during the latter part of September and October, or soon enough to give the third time for sufficient hilling before stor¬ ing. This third crop must all be stored for winter use. The growing of three crops is not to be recommended. We advise amateurs as well as professional gardeners to try only a small plat of ground in this way, until experi¬ ence can make it pay. Much depends on the ready sale of the first crop; for when blanched it must be sold at once. If kept long it is sure to rot in warm weather. The first crop should be blanched with boards, as described hereafter. In an unfavorable year, the third crop is small but brings a fair price in winter; many preferring this crisp sweet celery to that which is overgrown in size. 19 CULTIVATING. As soon as the planting is done, there is nothing to do until the plants begin to start and grow. We then go through with the horse cultivator, until the planting of the second crop, when the pronged hoe and hand cultivator are used. The ground should not be deep tilled until the plants have made some growth. Cultivate every four days and keep the weeds out. To keep the weeds out of the row, use a hoe and hand weeder. This is all that is needed until we come to the time of HILLING AND BLANCHING. Most of the celery is blanched with muck, when the weather will permit, but if too hot (which is generally the case when the early celery is grown), boards should be used. It should never be hilled when wet from dew or rain; it is very apt to rot if the weather is warm. The thickness and not the length of the plant determines the time of hilling, after which it will put on length enough, but in¬ crease in thickness but very little. If muck is used for hilling in hot weather, it is nearly impossible to bring celery to mar¬ ket free from rust. When boards are used wait also for the plant to acquire the thickness. When two crops are raised, nearly all the work of hilling is done by hand. With one crop the 20 soil can be thrown towards the rows with the plow, greatly reducing the labor of hilling. A large hoe is used, twelve inches in length. With this the soil is drawn toward the celery but not against it. Then the leaves are lifted and straightened, and the ground lightly pressed to the celery with the hands, one being on each side of the row. Let no dirt fall in the heart of the plant. About five days after, and after it begins to blanch a little, the muck should further be put up against the celery with a hoe. If it cannot be done with a hoe, a spade or shovel must be used. This second hilling should be about six inches higher, or almost to the leaves of the celery. The bank at the bottom should be broad, so that when the soil is drawn up, it will not easily roll or wash down. After three days, loose ground should be taken from the sides of the row and gently pressed against the celery to the height of two inches. This finishes the process of banking with ground. It will blanch in from ten to fifteen days from the first hilling. BOARDS. It requires two men to blanch with boards. The latter should be from ten to twelve inches wide, according to the height of the celery, one inch thick, 12 to 14 feet long, and free from holes which would admit the air. They are first distributed along the row and laid flat 21 on the ground, on both sides, the edges against the bottom of the plant. The men straddle a row at each end of a board. The boards are raised by the outer edges and both feet plant¬ ed against them; the leaves are straightened up, without breaking, and the boards pressed against them. They are then fastened at the top with a small piece of hard wood, which is eight inches long and two wide. In this, two notches are sawed to the depth of i ^ inches and 2inches apart, which will leave the boards 2^2 inches apart, which is the right distance. About four of these pieces should be used on a 16 foot board. If the celery is small, the boards should be somewhat closer. Heavy pieces of wire may be used, instead of wooden pieces. When the row is completed, the earth should be drawn against the bottom of the boards, to keep them firm against the celery. This completes the work, and the crop will now take ten to fifteen days in blanching. PREPARING FOR MARKET. As soon as blanched, it is dug with a spad¬ ing fork; driving deep under the roots, at the side of the row; the plants are pried loose for eight or ten feet, and then pulled, one by one. The outside leaves and green stalks are strip¬ ped off and the crown trimmed to a point, or cut off square and thrown into piles. With a wheelbarrow, these little piles are taken to the 22 wash house and placed in a large tank, six feet long and twenty inches square. At one end of this tank is a waste pipe with a plug, at the other a pump. When the celery is washed, the water is drawn off. The stalk is held in the left hand, near the root, and washed with a whisk broom, or a common scrubbing brush, and thrown to the end of the tank. From here it is taken out by the buncher, tied in a round bunch, twelve plants in a bunch. Two strings are used in tying, one just above the root and one just below the leaves. It is now packed tight in boxes, counted, and the number of bunches marked on the boxes, taken to the packing house and is ready for shipment. WINTER STORING. Before storing for winter, all celery should have one hilling to straighten the leaves. If it is to be sold in November or December, it should be blanched some, before storing. Celery should be dug only on dry days. For storing, it will not do to dig early in the morn¬ ing after a frosty night; the frost must thaw and dry off, or it will rot. Even dew must be dried. There are two methods of storing; in “coops,” and in trenches in the open ground. Most growers use a coop, or house. It will not keep as long in these as if put in trenches, but as it is here all disposed of before January,it makes 23 no difference. In these coops it can be easily- reached in the coldest weather, examined, and taken out at any time. But in the trenches the frost will keep control for weeks at a time. COOPS. The celery house can be made any size, generally fourteen or sixteen feet wide, and any length required. It should be built on high ground and where no water will stand in the house. The size of the coop is marked out on the ground, which is dug out in depth, two feet, more or less. The object is to reach dirt that will remain moist. The sides are dug straight down. Four by four posts are then set in the ground, and two feet high from the bottom of the cellar or a little above the out¬ side surface. The posts are covered on both sides with boards, and the space filled with saw¬ dust or leaves. The plates are put on, the rafters set up and covered with matched roof boards. This is covered with building paper aud shingled. At the ends matched boards are used, covered with paper and siding. Wooden chimneys eight inches square are placed on the roof every twelve feet, for venti¬ lation. To the tops of the chimneys covers are hinged, so they can be opened or closed. A window is built in the back end and a door in front. A few sash should be placed in the roof. They should be hot-bed sash and so 24 placed that they may be raised for ventilation in mild weather. On the windows, slmtters should be placed, and closed in severe weath¬ er. Before placing celery in the coop, the ground must be loosened up, and if dry, should be wet. Commence to store about Oct. 20, and try to have it finished by Nov. i, as at that time cold weather must be expected. These dates and all others refer to our latitude. For a sixteen foot house an alley way should be made running through the center, feet wide. A row of boards 16 inches high, accord¬ ing to the length of the celery, is run on both sides of the alley the whole length of the house. Cleats are nailed on the sides of the wall and on the inside of the boards every two feet. Two 8 inch boards, or one 16 inch board is slipped in, as celery will keep much better this way than in one solid mass. The house is then ready to receive the crop, which is dug in dry weather, the dead leaves and stems are pulled off, and the celery drawn to the house, set up straight upon the loosened surface, and packed close together and no soil placed between the stalks. One section is filled at a time. The chimneys should always be open except on the approach of very cold weather. On mild days the windows and doors can also be opened to admit air, for if kept too warm the leaves of the celery will turn yellow. All this depends on how long you wish to keep the crop. If 25 you wish to blanch fast, the coop can be kept warmer. A stove is sometimes placed within to keep out frost in the coldest weather. STORING IN TRENCHES. This should be done on high ground, and so drained that no water will stand in the trenches. On a hillside is also a very good place to store, and the trenches must run with the slope of the hill. They are dug 12 inches wide and as deep as the celery is long. We recommend that the trench be dug somewhat shallower than the height of the celery. The ground from the trench is thrown up to the sides and sloping. The celery is then placed in the trench and as straight as possible, packed snug and the leaves on a level with the ground. Two methods of covering are used. We prefer the first. Two 12 inch boards are nailed together in a A shape, which are placed over the trench and on the approach of cold weather, are lightly covered. As the cold increases, increase the covering from time to time, until a foot thick. If too thickly cover¬ ed at once, the heat generated cannot pass off, and the celery will commence to decay. Should the weather suddenly become quite warm, it would be well to remove a part of the covering. In the other method no boards are used, but straw or other material is placed directly 26 on the celery, covered lightly and increased as directed above. These methods are recommended in prefer¬ ence to cooping, when the celery is to be kept any length of time. For family use it can be kept in a cellar, or in boxes, the same as described for coops. The boxes should be as high as the celery, one foot wide and any length. Four inches of sand or soil is then placed in the box. This should be soaked with water. The plants set up straight with the roots in the wet sand, and packed close. Place no soil between them. Examine the sand from time to time, and if dry, water, but pour no water on the celery. Packed in this way, it will keep from two to four months, according to how much it is blanched when packed. SEED RAISING. This is an important matter. In selecting plants for this purpose they should be true to the variety. Select plants of good size, solid in stem, with abundance of heart leaves. For seed, store in a trench and keep somewhat dryer than for market. As spring approaches they should be hardened off and set out about the ioth of May. Use only those plants that are sound; set the rows four feet apart, and twenty inches in the row. The soil should be pressed around the roots and the heart 27 exposed. The soil must be rich, well culti¬ vated, and the weeds kept out. When the seeds are brown and ripe, cut off the stalks at the root, carry away in cloths and thrash. The remaining seed is dried in the sun a few days, and again thrashed, when all the seed will come off which is ripe enough to be saved. The seed is now dried about three weeks and cleaned, and will remain good five years. Better pay a high price for reliable seeds than to receive a poor sample as a gift. Having cultivated the following VARIETIES, We will describe them in their order of merit: White Plume. —Introduced about two years ago has become one of the leading varieties here and is grown largely for early crop. The one feature that it excells all others, is that it can be blanched very quickly without high hilling. It is not a good keeper for winter, but an excellent sort for market, very attract¬ ive and one of the best sellers. Hartwell Perfection. —The finest and largest for all purposes. Color, golden yellow, full heart, a rapid grower, an easy blancher and an excellent keeper for winter. It is grown for late crop and we can recommend it as one of the best for all purposes. Golden Price. —This variety has not been fully tested here yet, but promises to occupy 28 leading place for an all around celery. Boston Market is a valuable dwarf grow¬ ing variety, the most popular sort in the markets of Boston, and the only one planted by the gardeners of that vicinity. The leaves are dark green, and the blanched stalks near¬ ly white. Solid, crisp, and is one of the very best for winter keeping. The number of plants that can be grown on one acre, at five inches apart in the row, is shown in the following TABLES OF PLANTS AND BOXES. Rows 3 feet apart, 34,000, two crops, 68,000, “ 4 “ “ 25,000, “ “ 50,000, “ 5 “ “ 20,000, “ “ 40,000. The size of boxes used in shipping is shown in the following TABLE. I, 6 in. deep, 12 in. wide, 28 in long, 5 doz. 2, 6 “ “ 20 u u 28 u “ IO u 3 , 10 “ “ 15 U u 28 u “ ] 5 << 4 , 12 “ “ 18 u u 28 u 44 20 u The above described boxes are made of one inch pine lumber, dressed and re-sawed for the sides, but the ends are left one inch thick. All the boxes should be 28 inches long. The celery should not be very wet when packed in warm weather, as there will be a tendency to heat, and for summer shipping, 29 the boxes should he nailed so as to admit air. In winter they should be tight and lined with thick paper, and if the weather is very cold, each bunch should also be wrapped in paper. PROFITS. In writing this book, we have avoided allud¬ ing to the profits, as statements in that direct¬ ion are very misleading, and cannot be accu¬ rately given, as the price fluctuates so much. Sometimes getting as high as 22 cents in the most favorable part of the year, which is the very early, and as low as io cents in the hot weather, when it has to be shipped as soon as blanched. The best prices are realized for the very early and very late. During the past year it has averaged perhaps 15 or. 16 cents. We find the business profitable, giving our entire time and attention to it. However, there are a few who have given up in disgust, declaring that there was no money in it for them. This is the history of all occupations. The land which a few years ago brought $10 to $50 will now bring $300 to $600, and so well adapted to celery and so correctly drained is the best of this land that the crop is unaffected by the accident of wet and dry. HISTORY. A native of England, it grew rank and strong in wet marshes near the sea. 30 The moist and foggy climate of that island just suited its habits of growth, or formed them, and it is here a thrifty grower in a for¬ eign land, and has become one of the most agreeable salads cultivated, and a nervine of pronounced qualities. Raised upon upland, its early history is not worth mentioning. About twelve years ago a few Holland garden¬ ers raised some small patches on what they called moss land, having more than enough to supply this market. At this time, none was shipped, but as its superior quality and flavor became known, a sudden demand for it caused this infantile industry to spring at once into a most flourishing condition, which has continued to the present day, unchecked by hard times or frosty markets. And the days which have seen other industries suffer and go down in the land, have also seen this occupation prosper¬ ing, increasing and doubling its borders, and doubling and trebling the number of its yearly product, and still, always the markets of the country have asked for more. And now 2,000 hard working people devote their entire time, winter and summer, to this work, placing upon the market none but the choicest product, and in the busy season loading down on the aver¬ age, three or four cars daily. While at first a few acres were planted with misgivings, as to the effect upon the coming market, now many hundred acres are each year increased by other 31 hundreds, and with no misgivings for tl result. Indeed, some of the heaviest produce § whose brands have become known abroad, arfj who ship directly to their customers instead seeking a market or selling to middlemen, a unable in the busiest part of the season, j keep up with their orders. And from near all the distant cities of the country and tl proprietors of large hotels, the orders come with the regularity of clockwork. Perhaps we should not pass the recognize bounds of modesty in saying that the superb quality of Kalamazoo celery is acknowledge; throughout the world, so far as it has bee tested, and that the day is not far distan when every town and city in this country wi| have tasted this product for themselves ad¬ joined in the universal verdict. April 12, 1886.