PROCI'IKUINGS OF TilK SUMMER MEETING 53 



vantages and di^advanlagcs. For very early and very late celery, the old 

 method would seem the best, lliough (he use of the more compact and so- 

 called self-bleaching varieties make the work of banking very much less 

 than with the older and taller growing kinds. The advantages of bleach- 

 ing by boards are numerous, but there are some disadvantages. The first 

 cost of the lumber is quite an item, and then the labor of hauling is not 

 much less than the labor of banking with earth. But in the hot summer 

 days the celery will not be so likely to rust, and will be superior in appear- 

 ance and flavor. The greatest advantage in- board-bleaching is that it 

 gives a greater range of soil on which celery can be successfully grown. 

 The essential requirements are a rich, open soil, highly fertilized, plenty of 

 moisture in the soil, and a damp atmosphere. Given these conditions, and 

 the young plants set out five to six inches apart in a row, and the rows 

 three and one half to four feet apart, and by constant attention to keeping 

 the weeds out, and the soil loose and the earth banked up, or boards put on 

 as the plants require it, we may have in about eight weeks celery that is 

 a delight to the eye and delicious to the taste. 



So much for growing celery. Now we come to the successful marketing, 

 which so far is an unsolved problem. The method usually employed has 

 been to ship by boat or express, and consign to commission dealers in the 

 larger cities. For various reasons this has not proved a very great finan- 

 cial success, and it seems necessary to make some kind of change, and the 

 solution may be in the central packing-house system as adapted to fruit. 

 I understand this method as applied to celery is in successful operation 

 in Ohio. 



I have tried to take you through the various stages of celery-growing 

 and marketing, and have reached the final disposition of it, the eating part. 

 Perhaps you are not all aware that celery is delicious cooked and served in 

 milk, the same as asparagus. Its medicinal properties make it particu- 

 larly valuable as a nerve food. In some places the canning and pickling 

 of celery is getting to be quite an industry. 



The history of the carnation goes back over 2,000 years. It is hardly 

 necessary to say we shall not attempt to give it in full. Books enumerate 

 about 200 species, some of which are knowm as troublesome weeds, in 

 many sections, the common chick-weed being one variety. Of the 200 

 species, only four are of value to florists. One of these is known as Sweet 

 William, another Pheasant-Eye Pink. Bunch pink, etc. The species to 

 which our modern carnation belongs is Dianthus caryophyllus, so-called 

 because of its fragrance which resembles the clove spice of commerce. 



The word dianthus is from two Greek words, dios, meaning divine, and 

 anthos, a flower. If the pink in its original primitive simplicity was 

 worthy the Greek name of dio-anthos. the grand evolved carnation of 

 today more than merits to be crowned the "divine flower", "The sweetest 

 smile of nature." 



In the early stages of carnation culture the flowers Avere nearly all 

 single and very small. But by cultivation and the systematic selection of 

 the best specimens, the number of petals and the size of the flower have 

 been wonderfully increased. It is often said that we attain better results 

 when we keep an ideal flower before vts. A few^ years ago John Thorp, a 

 leading carnation-grower of "NTew York, nnd later superintendent of the 

 floral department of the World's Fair, said that the ideal carnation should 



