PROCEEDINGS OF THE WINTER MEETING. 57 



Accompanying this sketch I sent the department a carefully selected 

 sample of celery soil for analysis. 



In the published report of the analysis by Mr. H. W. Riley, the chemist, 

 he says: "The culture of celery in this country, especially in Michigan, 

 has grown to be an industry of considerable importance. In the neigh- 

 borhood of Kalamazoo, Michigan, are some of the finest celery gardens of 

 the world. To determine the character of the soil in which this celery 

 grows, a carefully selected sample was obtained from Mr. Frank Little of 

 Kalamazoo." 



The analysis gave the following results: 



ANALYSIS OF THE SOIL,. 



Sabstances. Per cent. 



Moisture 7.105 



Hydrated silica 1.885 



Ferric oxide 1.880 



Phosphoric acid .470 



Potash .206 



Chlorine .091 



Volatile and organic matter 52.342 



Quartz sand 23.845 



Soluble silica .175 



Alumina 3.237 



Lime 4.574 



Soda .463 



Sulphuric acid .601 



Carbonic acid .408 



Nitrogen 2.660 



The great percentage of nitrogen in this soil will be noticed, which 

 leads me to the conclusion that soils containing a large quantity of organic 

 '^matter are particularly adapted to the growth and culture of celery. 



HISTORY OF THE INDUSTRY AT KALAMAZOO. 



The celery gardens of Kalamazoo are located upon the bottom or marsh 

 lands that skirt the river and its tributaries. It is estimated that there 

 are in the city and township 3,000 acres of bottom land, a large portion of 

 which is adapted to the cultivation of celery. This marsh soil is of inky 

 blackness, peaty, in some instances strongly impregnated with iron, and 

 in others with marl or carbonate of lime. 



QThe saturation is copious as a rule throughout the season, owing to 

 porosity of soil and the elevation being but slight above the river level. 



In 1875, or thereabout, a native Hollander by the name of Lendert De 

 Bruyn, who had carried on a small upland garden and tried to raise a little 

 celery, ditched and spaded a narrow strip a few feet wide and two or three 

 rods long of marsh at the rear of his lot on South Burdick street, and set 

 out a few plants of celery as an experiment. His success was so marked 

 that the next spring three or four other Hollanders in like manner prepared 

 a few rods of ground with like results. 



Stimulated by the uniform success that had attended these efforts, and a 

 market being opened abroad by some enterprising dealers, a large number 

 of Hollanders soon embarked in the work. Large tracts of marsh-lands 

 were ditched, subdued, and planted out to celery up and down the valley. 

 Marsh-lands advanced rapidly in value from a nominal average price of 

 $30 per acre to three, four and five, hundred dollars per acre. 



At the present time, July, 1885, the total area of celery lands under 



8 



