REPORT OF THE CHEMIST. 345 



making side walls 4 feet high inside. A ridge-pole, 6 feet high, is duly supported 

 through the center, and 14 ft. boards are used for roofing, occasional openings 

 being made in tlie roof for windows and ventilation. The outside is well banked 

 up with earth to the eaves, and the roof covered with straw and manui-e to exclude 

 the frost. 



In housing the celery for winter, beginning at the back end of the " coop," the 

 plants which are green and small as they are selected from the field are first 

 pack(nl away at the farther end, standing closely and upon their roots, slightly 

 sprinkled with earth, and moistened, to keep them growing. To prevent heating, 

 the plants, as they are stowed away, are divided into narrow sections by boards set 

 edgewise. Green and immature plants are always placed at the back end, so as to 

 be the last to come out in the early spring, when the season closes, while the large 

 mature heads are saved to go in last near the door. 



In t'nis manner the "coop" is fiilled to the entrance with one or two hundred thou- 

 sand dozens of plants, more or less, as the case may be. 



The proper management of these winter cellars is a very important feature of the 

 enterprise, ^nd requires constant vigilance and excellent judgment to regulate the 

 light, heat, ventilation, and steady successful bleachmg of the plants. 



Another method of winter storage is sometimes practiced by digging a trench 2 

 feet deep, 3 feet wide, and any desired length. The plants are then packed up- 

 rightly upon their roots in the trench as closely as they will stand, and covered with 

 straw, earth, and manure to exclude frost. 



While celery thus secm-ed is said to be preferable, there are serious objections to 

 the method in this latitude. For the plants, long excluded from the air, would 

 smotlicr and decay, tnere would be danger from frost, and they would be inaccessi- 

 ble many wmters in case of protracted periods of very cold weather. 



The wintei demand for celery for shipment, especially diu-ing the hohday season, 

 is constant and unabated; and the " coop" system enables the grower to obtain ac- 

 cess to his stock every day, even in the coldest weather, and note its condition and 

 prepare it for market, until the crop is exhausted. 



Kalamazoo celery is now shipped to nearly every State in the Union. The regu- 

 lar season commences about the 1st of July, and, being prolonged by the practice of 

 winter storage described, lasts until the succeeding March or April. 



The annual product of celery at Kalamazoo is now estimated at upwards of 

 1,200,000 dozens, and valued at $250,000. 



Kalamazoo celery takes high rank in the various markets where offered. It is re- 

 markably uniform in size and quaUty; of luxuriant, rapid growth; crisp, aromatic, 

 nutty flavor; and is generally sound and free from rust. Large, thrifty heads are 

 genei-ally more salable, but a medium size is to be preferred as being more tender 

 and solid. As an esculent, it undoubtedly requires a cultivated taste to relish cel- 

 ery, but this taste is readily acquired; and as a condiment and appetizer, to say 

 notliing of its valuable medicinal properties, celery stands unsurpassed. 



The foregoing sketch of the rise and progi'ess of celery culture in Kalamazoo but 

 imperfectly delineates the development of an industry that has proved of great prac- 

 tical value not only to this locality, but the success and fame of the undertaking 

 having gone abroad elsewhere in this State and in other States, the more extensive 

 cultivation of celery has been stimulated in view of what has been accomplished 

 here. 



Land, much of it heretofore considered comparatively worthless, the original home 

 of venomous reptiles, noxious ^veeds, swamp fever, and malaria, has been drained, 

 brought under cultivation, converted into arable fields and luxuriant celery gar- 

 dens. 



While some of the drier portions of the Kalamazoo marshes were available for 

 pasturage and meadows in dry seasons, yielding a coarse marsh grass of inferior 

 quality, many large tracts that have been reclaimed were but a few years since wet 

 and miry, almost impassable for either men or animals: and the idea of converting 

 these lands to any practical use in the direction mdicated would a few years since 

 have been deemed visionary and absui-d in the highest degree. 



COMPOSITION OF WATER AND MUSK MELONS. 



Many inquiries having been received at tliis office concerning the 

 possibility of making sugar from water-melons. I was led to under- 

 take an investigation of the content of crystallizable sugar in this 

 fruit. At the same time a study was made of the other important 

 constituents. The analytical processes employed were those usually 



