344 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



to be perfectly at home as they dig in the mud and water and plod over the moist 

 celery fields. 



In winter, when tlie marshes are frozen, large quantities of straw and stable ma- 

 nure are dra^^■n out to the celery fields for spring and summer use. Manure — which 

 has appreciated in value largely within the city Umits shice tlie develojjment of this 

 enterprise — is an essential feature of success. It is used Uberally at each successive 

 planting to promote the growth of the crop ; and it is found that artificial fer- 

 tilization here cannot be profitably dispensed with. 



Celery seed is quite small and slow to germinate. Some gi'owers raise their own 

 seed, but a large number purchase it each year at a reliable seed agency. 



There are many varieties, with scarcely essential dilferences. The most jjopular- 

 named varieties at Kalamazoo are the Golden Dwarf, White Plume, and ASTiite 

 Walnut. 



Seed is sown in March in hot-beds ; later on, in shallow boxes, and a finely pre- 

 pared seed-bed outdoors. The seed should be sown in straight rows, so that the 

 young plants may be kept free from weeds. When about 2 inches high they should 

 be thinned out and transplanted 2 mches apart, and when 4 inches high the tops 

 should be cut off, wliich will cause them to grow stocky. . > ; . 



Thorough cultivation is imphed where celery has been raised upon any given 

 tract the previous year. 



In planting out, well-manured, broad, shallow trenches about 7 inches deep, par- 

 allel to each other and 5 feet apart — in some instances these trenches are only 3 J 

 and 4 feet apart — are usually prepared; and the young plants are set ui the trench at 

 intervals of 6 inches; the outer leaves cut off, and the soil pressed closely around the 

 roots. 



Early plants are set in May, as weather permits; second crop in June; and third 

 and last planting, for whiter use, last of August and first of Septeniber. 



Onions, i)eas, and potatoes are extensively planted between the trenches of the 

 fij-st crop, to be harvested before the celery needs hillmg. 



In about six weeks from setting out the plants may be "handled," one man gath- 

 ering the leaves together tightly, while another draws the earth from between the 

 rows about the plants one-thirdtheir height. The process is repeated in dry weather 

 every few days until ready for use. Care must be taken that dirt does not fall be- 

 tween tlie leaves in hilling, as rot may ensue. 



The hillmg of the fii-st crop excavates a trench, along wliich tlie second "planting 

 out" is set before the first is harvested. 



Tlie first crop is usually ready for market by the 10th of July, and all gathered by 

 the 1st of August. The soil is then taken from the first row for hilling the second 

 crop. If the season is favorable, a thii-d crop is planted out the 1st of September 

 upon tlie first Une of trench. 



Blanching m the field is done either by liilling up the plants with earth , as previ- 

 ously described, or by boards placed each side of the gTOwing plants, and held to- 

 gether by iron hooks or clamps. Where boards are used there is less liability to rust, 

 but the celery is said not to be equal in quality to that which is hilled with earth. 



At maturity the celery is dug, trimmed, washed in sluices running tlirough the 

 fields, securely tied in bundles of twelve heads— boys and girls being usually em- 

 ployed in this work— and dehvered promptly at the sliipping agencies, fresh from 

 the field every day, just jirior to departure of express trains. 



At the ageiicies'the celery is immediately packed in thin wooden boxes of uniform 

 size — ten bundles of twelve heads each — duly branded " Kalamazoo Celery," and 

 sent at once to the express trains. 



In the height of the season 40 tons have sometimes been shipped from Kalamazoo 

 of celery thus packed in a day. 



It is important that celery reaches its destination in as fresh and crisp a state as 

 possible. The utmost celerity is therefore requisite, from tlie moment the plants are 

 lifted in the field, to hasten them to market m an attracti\e form and good condi- 

 tion. There are nearly thirty business firms engaged in the shipment of celery 

 from Kalamazoo. These agencies buy the celery outright at a certain price per dozen 

 heads, and it is then sold in quantities to fill orders or consigned for sale to coniinis- 

 sion dealei's. 



As the season advances and freezing weather sets in all the plants that remain 

 in the gardens are lifted from then original bed and stored carefully away in wmter 

 cellars, or "coops." These winter rei)08itories are built to exclude the frost, and 

 have facilities for lighting and for heating in e:rtreme cold weather. They are built 

 usually 24 feet wide, and are 100, 200, and 300 feet long, as the case requires. 



In consti'ucting these " coops," which are built on dry land near the gardens, the 

 earth is excavated about 2 feet below the natural sm-face for the entire area to be 

 inclosed, The sides are boarded up above the natural surface 2 feet to the eaves, 



