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GLEANINGS IN BEEBCULTURE. 



-June 15.E3 



them before, I am ashamed to say, this spring. 

 I knew something what to expect, however, for 

 the season has been exceedingly favorable. I 

 reached there just as the sun stood at the right 

 angle to make the beautiful rows of plants 

 show forth like threads of green and gold, as 

 they extend away off iti the distance over more 

 than forty acres of the rich black loam. I have 

 tried to describe the appearance of a celery- 

 farm before; but words do not seem to do it 

 justice. Friend Jordan told me there had been 

 several attempts made to photograph the field; 

 but the camera does seem to " catch-on " to the 

 black earth and brilliant green. Another thing 

 that makes this spot so enchanting is that here 

 this branch of agriculture is carried on with 

 such perfect system and mathematical pre- 

 cision. The plants are raised in the green- 

 house, as I have before described; then trained 

 women transplant them into boxes that are 

 afterward set in the outdoor hot-beds and 

 cold-frames. This spring they have discarded 

 cloth, and every thing is covered with glass 

 sashes. When the sun is too hot, the sashes 

 are either whitewashed or covered with shut- 

 ters. They have " caught on " to the same idea 

 that I expressed in our last issue — close-fitting 

 sashes keep the air and soil damp around the 

 plants better than cloih or any thing else that 

 permits too much air to pass through. 



After the plants are sufficiently rooted then 

 they can have air and sun; and they take pains 

 that they are well hardened off in ihis way be- 

 fore they go to the fields. The ground is mark- 

 ed off with a machine that makes a furrow 

 deep enough to hold a little stream of water. 

 The same machine also fixes the distances the 

 plants are to be placed apart. Each plant, 

 when put out, is a mass of fibrous roots, holding 

 sulBcient soil so there is really a little sod of 

 earth and roots attached to each plant. I have 

 mentioned this before; but it will bear telling 

 over again. The result is, that not one in a 

 thousand dies— perhaps not one in ten thousand. 

 In fact, there are no vacancies. 



I found quite a gang of men and boys at work, 

 the boys dropping the plants; and each man 

 and boy will set ever so many thousand plants 

 in a day; no matter how hot the sun shines, 

 nor how dry the weather is, a man trained for 

 the business keeps a stream of water constantly 

 running in the furrow, ahead of each one of the 

 planters. The Golden Self blanching is at 

 present rather taking the lead for early celery. 



THE NEW CELERY CULTURE A SUCCESS. 



I am pleased to see that Messrs. Jordan 

 Bros. & Co. have succeeded in making this 

 thing work beautifullv; after the experiments 

 of last season, perhaps half an acre is growing 

 in this way. The rows of celery are 7 inches 

 apart, and the plants are 6 inches apart in the 

 row. But the great essential to success is not 

 only plenty of water, but the very richest of 

 compost that can be made. By the way. Jor- 

 dan Bros. & Co. are purchasing stable manure 

 now from the great cities by the carload. They 

 get it wherever they can find it best and cheap- 

 est; and they are working now entirely with 

 stable manure, using no chemical fertilizers 

 whatever. And that is just what I expected, 

 for celery-growing especially Great comnost 

 heaps as large as a barn were located at differ- 

 ent points near the railroad track. The manure 

 and muck are worked over until they are thor- 

 oughly decomposed and composted; and then 

 it is spread over their more than sixty acres; 

 but for the new celery culture they work it in 

 tremendous doses. It is almost, both in looks 

 and smell, like an old barnyard. When 1 was 

 there some of the plants were nearly a foot 

 high; and I expressed some surprise because 



the weeds had notobeen cut out so very thor- 

 oughly as out on the broad acres where the 

 rows were four or five feet apart. 



" Why, Mr. Jordan, don'i you want to get 

 this " pussley ' out of here? Surely you don't 

 want the weeds in the way in your new celery 

 culture." 



"Mr. Root, how much harm can weeds do 

 when the celery-tops get above them and shut 

 out every bit of daylight ? " 



•' Well, I declare! t]iere is another new kink 

 after all. This very rich soil, instead of en- 

 couraging the weeds, fZiscourages them; for the 

 celery, after it once gets a little ahead, is too 

 much for even 'pussley.'" 



Just then a bell rang, and the small boys be- 

 gan to scamper. I supposed it was supper- 

 time, and thought the boys must be hungry; 

 but Mr. Jordan said it was quitting time, six 

 o'clock. And then it just occurred to me that 

 I had been looking around there, entirely 

 oblivious of the lapse of time, and I was four- 

 teen miles from home. Oh I by the way, there 

 was a little group of Hoys off a little piece from 

 the rest of the crowd. This group came along 

 a little more leisurely behind the rest; and as 

 they walked on ahead of me, I noticed a pecul- 

 iar motion in their walk. There was a little 

 bit of swing, such as you often seen girls of 

 twelve or fourteen put on. They walked as if 

 they were swinging their skirts; but there were 

 no skirts at all. They were simply boys' blue 

 overalls. One of them looked around, and then 

 for the first time I noticed that the " boys " 

 were all girls. Now, do not scold. You can 

 not blame the wheels altogether for the bloom- 

 er costume. I do not think these girls wore 

 bloomers after all. A year ago I noticed they 

 had girls — that is, small girls — weeding onions, 

 working on their knees astride the rows. The 

 boys got over the plants without mussing them 

 up or breaking them down; but the girls, even 

 though they wore short skirts, evidently did 

 much more damage to the plants. Well, this 

 year they have given up the skirts entirely. I 

 do not know that you can call their clothing 

 bloomers, but it is adapted to their work. If 

 their mothers are poor and needy, they will 

 not need to say. as some others have said, 

 '■ Why, how much my girls would help if they 

 could work in the onion fields and earn money 

 as the boys do!" Mind you. 1 am not entirely 

 satisfied that this is just the thing to do; but I 

 am only suggesting. If my girls were at work 

 in this way, L should want some good Christian 

 man near by tj look after them; and I was 

 glad to note that this crowd ot workers were 

 in charge of the senior member of the firm, and 

 I happen to know he is a most excellent and 

 exemplary Christian man. 



I think I never climbed the hills— a long 

 string of them that we meet about half way 

 home— with the ease that I did on this trip. 

 My new wheel just bounded up hill and down; 

 and although I have enjoyed beautiful sunsets 

 all my life, I think I never before enjoyed one 

 as I did this time. It was the effects of that 

 wheel-ride. Let mo go back. When I first 

 started out that afternoon I did not feel like 

 riding. I went principally because I knew 

 I needed it to start my circulation. After I had 

 ridden two or three miles, had I consulted my 

 feelings at that time I should have said there 

 was not any fun in wheel-riding, after all, and 

 I actually felt as if I should rather go back 

 home. I reached home just as the moon was 

 up, so it was my pleasure to enjoy a sunset and 

 amoonrise. Oh how things had changed in just 

 one short afternoon! Why. I didn't get business 

 arranged so I could get away until almost three 

 o'clock. I felt happy and full of enthusiasm 



