1897 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



301 



boards was mulched with manure and other mate- 

 rial. One could almost see the celery grow. In a 

 short time it grew above the top of the eighteen- 

 inch boards, and in the dark space between them 

 soon commenced to blanch. It grew over two feet 

 high; and when the boards were then crowded close 

 together, the blanching was completed in a very few 

 days. All who saw it said it was the finest field of 

 celery they ever saw. I began to ship it to the deal- 

 ers in near-by villages and to summer resorts along 

 our railroad. After they had learned about the 

 quality of the celery the demand was so great that 

 I was unable to supply it, and the field of celery was 

 marketed in a very short time. The celery grew so 

 rapidly that it was very tender, and there were no 

 hollow stalks. I have often been troubled with cel- 

 ery going to seed when planted so early, but on this 

 plot of celery, which was nearly all marketed in 

 August, hardly a single stalk went to seed. Celery 

 grown in this way is very easily prepared for mar- 

 ket. I take down the boards, and with a sharp 

 knife cut the plants off a little below the surface of 

 the ground, leaving the roots in the ground, which, 

 with the celery trimmings, add something to its fer- 

 tility. As fast as the plants were trimmed they 

 were tied in dozen bunches and packed in six dozen 

 baskets. 



There is a large saving in labor with this method 

 as compared with the old one of wide rows and 

 banking with earth. Three or four times as much 

 can be grown on the same land, and there is no 

 banking, no digging up the plants with a spade, 

 and no washing, for there is no soil put around the 

 celery. The plan is an improvement over the one 

 of setting the celery so close together that it will 

 blanch by its own shade, for it blanches the celery 

 perfectly. It is also an improvement over the plan 

 of blanching it with boards in single wide rows, for 

 In boarding double rows one-half of the boards 

 are saved. The mulch between the rows retains the 

 moisture, and less water is required in irrigating 

 the celery. No one can be successful in growing 

 celery by this method without making the soil very 

 rich, and there must be water available for irriga- 

 tion. With the conditions all right there is money 

 in it. ;m. Jenkins. 



We are sorry the editor did not give Mr. Jen- 

 kins' place of residence, for some of us might 

 like to go and see him work on the plan he 

 gives. It can be done, without question. In 

 fact, I have at different times produced almost 

 the same results; but to do what he claims, the 

 ground must be exceedingly rich— in fact, a 

 great part of the soil should be old well -rotted 

 stable manure. The mulching with stable ma- 

 nure to keep the ground moist and hold the 

 moisture is an excellent suggestion; ana coarse 

 strawy manure will answer very well for the 

 mulching. After you have learned just how, it 

 may be an easy thing to do; but I would caution 

 beginners to commence with a rod square or 

 less; and when you can make this work all 

 right, then increase your area. I believe the 

 greater part of the attempts at the new celery 

 culture have failed just because there was not 

 old well -rotted manure enough, and water in 

 sufficient quantities. Now, then, who among 

 us is going to succeed in getting at the rate of 

 ttvo or three thousand dollars an acre for a sin- 

 gle crop of celery? 



Health Notes. 



SANITARY HIGH-PRESSURE GARDENING. 



Our good friend R. B. Hugman, of Hastings, 

 Texas, sends us some suggestions in regard to 

 dry-earth closets. Instead of using dry dust, 

 such as we get in the roads, for instance, he 

 advises using common garden soil sifted, but 

 not so dry as to make a dust; then the product 

 of the closet, after being shoveled over, is just 

 right to work into the garden, or to be plowed 

 under. With his letter he incloses a circular 

 from a London firm, entitled "Moule's Patent 



Earth closets and Commodes." This circular 

 describes an arrangement very similar to my 

 own for disposing of house slops, etc. From it 

 I make the following extract: 



Where there is a garden, the house-slops and sink- 

 water may, in most cases, be made of great value, 

 and removed from the house without the least an- 

 noyance. The only requirement is that there shall 

 be a gradual incline from the house to the garden. 

 Let all the slops fall into a trapped sink, the drain 

 from which to the garden should be of glazed socket 

 pipes, well jointed, and emptying itself into a small 

 tank, 18 inches deep, about one foot wide, and of 

 such length as may be necessary. The surplus rain- 

 water from the roof may also enter this. Out of 

 this tank lay 3 inch common drain-pipes, 8 feet 

 apart, and 12 inches below the surface. Lay mortar 

 on top and bottom of the joint, leaving the sides 

 open. If these pipes are extended to a considerable 

 length, small tanks, about one foot square and 18 

 inches deep, must be sunk at about every 20 to 40 

 feet, to allow for subsidence. These can easily be 

 emptied, as often as required; and the deposit may 

 be either mixed with dry earth or be dug in at once 

 as manure. The liquid oozes into the cultivated 

 soil, and the result is something fabulous. This 

 simple plan will effectually deal with the slops; there 

 is no smell, no possibility of any foul gas to poison 

 the atmosphere, and with this, and the product of 

 the earth-closet, any ground may be made produc- 

 tive and profitable. 



The following fact will illustrate the value of this 

 system of dealing with house-slops, etc. 



On a wall .55 feet in lengtli and 16 feet high a vine 

 grows. A 3-inch pipe runs parallel with this at a 

 distance of 6 feet from it for the entire length; the 

 slops flow through this pipe as above described. On 

 this vine, year after year, had been grown 400 well- 

 ripened bunches of grapes, some of the bunches 

 weighing three-quarters of a pound. During a pe- 

 riod of four years, for a certain purpose, the supply 

 was cut off. To the surprise of the gardener, scarce- 

 ly any grapes during those years appeared; but 

 afterward the supply was restored, and the conse- 

 quence was an abundant crop, the wood grew fully 

 16 feet, of good size, and well ripened. 



The suggestion of small tanks to collect the 

 sediment is a very important addition to my 

 apparatus; and when I construct any more I 

 shall put them in. The idea Is the same thing 

 that is often used in underdraining, and called 

 a silt-basin or silt-well. The simplest way to 

 make such a tank is to set a large drain-tile on 

 end, say a foot or more across. If there is a 

 large amount of subsidence, a two-foot length 

 of sewer-Dipe 18 inches or 2 feet across would 

 be nice for the purpose; and these silt-basins 

 should be covered in such a way that they can 

 be emptied when necessary. In our own work 

 we have used a common 13-lnch drain-tile cov- 

 ered with a stone crock-cover. If the whole Is 

 covered with earth you must put an iron rod, or 

 something similar, down where the silt-wellis 

 located, or you may not be able to find it. 

 Where simply house-slops and nothing else are 

 run into the tiles it will be a long while before 

 these basins need emptying. 



In regard to the value of slops for the garden, 

 for fruit-trees, currant-bushes, or any thing of 

 the sort, there is no possible question. This is 

 a sort of sub-irrigation that every household 

 can invest in. It will save the good wife 

 laborious steps, will save doctors' bills, will 

 keep the home looking neat and tidy, and will 

 give you luscious fruit and vegetables at a very 

 insignificant cost. The owner of any home 

 should have ingenuity enough to adapt the 

 apparatus to his immediate surroundings. 



Now, friends, when I come to visit you do not 

 have any unsightly slops in the back yard, but 

 have some fruit-trees and vegetables that are 

 utilizing every day all these waste products. I 

 do not know of any work I enjoy more than 

 constructing such an apparatus, for disposing 

 of slops and sewage from the home. 



