C.I-KANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



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ON THE WHKKL TO THK CEI.KRY-KARM OK 

 WKAN, HORR, WARNER & CO. 



On Friday, the 'JDth of October, I visited the 

 celery-farm of Wean, Ilorr, Warner vs: Co. Al- 

 thongh the frost did them some damage, their 

 celery had so far recovered that it seemed to 

 niy eye a sea of verdnre and Inxnriance. It 

 was then all banked up for cold weather. All 

 that was \'isible over the grounds was banked 

 entirely with soil. The rows were, perhaps, 

 five or six feet apart ; and from the bottom of 

 the ditch to the top of the rows of celery they 

 must have been some three or four feet high. 

 It was dug by means of a digger — a machine 

 built specially for it. The hilling was also 

 done almost entirely b}- machinery. Perhaps 

 I should say at the outsit that they have 

 grown this year 140 acres of celery ; and while 

 everywhere elst; celery-farms have been great- 

 ly suffering from drouth, and many of them 

 worse still b}- fire in the muck, our friends at 

 Lodi have hardly felt the dry weather. In 

 fact, their ditches, which were, I believe, 90 

 feet apart, are almost full of water at the pres- 

 ent time. Why, it really looked as if it had 

 been raining so as to fill the puddles and 

 ditches at the side of the road. Mr. W. R. 

 Wean informed me they were filled with the 

 water from several springs along the base of 

 the hills at the edge of the swamp. 



Perhaps the most interesting object to me 

 was their celery-washing machine. Imagine 

 a great tub with the sides say three feet high, 

 and may be twent}- feet across. Inside of this 

 tub is a revolving platform. The platform is 

 either iron rods or very heavy poultry-netting. 

 Of course, the platform is attached to an up- 

 right shaft in the center of the tub, and is 

 kept revolving at just the right speed. The 

 celery is spread out on this platform. At 

 three or four different points there are appro- 

 priate iron pipes perforated with small holes so 

 as to let a powerful spray strike the celerv as 

 it moves under the pipes. By means of a 

 steam-engine and a steam-pump tliL-y keep a 

 tremendous pressure on the sjjrinklers. One 

 man at one side of this big tub pours the cele- 

 ry on the moving platform, and spreads it out. 

 When half way around, another attendant 

 turns it over. If it does not get fairly washed 

 the first time, they let it go around again. Mr. 

 Wean .says when the washing is all done by 

 spray the stalks are not bruised and rubbed as 

 they are when a stiff brush is used or where it 

 is washed by hand. You will notice how a 

 root of celery turns yellow where it has been 

 cut, say at its lower end, after it has stood 

 several hours. Well, if the stalk is bruised or 

 handled harshly it will l)ecome discolored and 

 speckled throughout its leugth. The celery 

 washed by the machine is of pearly whiteness, 

 and will keep so several days longer than cel- 

 ery washed in any other way. The machine 

 is the invention of Mr. Wean. 



I rode down to the celery-farm on my wheel, 

 with the northeast wind on my back, and it 

 was fine " sailing," I assure you. Going back 

 home, however, the wind was right in my 

 face, and that was not so " fine." Now, here is 

 a hint : W'hen you are going out for a wheel- 

 ride for any considera1)le distance, choose a 

 day when the wind is at your back, and then 

 you will be quite comfortable, no matter how 

 hard tlie wind blows. If the wind does not 

 turn around when you come home you will 

 have to get back the best way you can — possi- 

 bly on the cars. 



By the way, I am told that, in some locali- 

 ties, their celery has not only been dried up 

 by the drouth, but that the muck has got on 

 fire, and in some places has burned out to a 

 depth of several feet. Now, my impression is 

 that these ashes would be worth quite a little 

 as a fertilizer next season — at least on certain 

 crops ; but I have been told that in some 

 places the ground is made almost worthless 

 for celery or any other crop. Can any of the 

 friends tell us whether this is true? 



These people raise onions as well as celery, 

 and it was my pleasure to look over the crop 

 of 70,000 bushels nicely housed in the lung 

 rows of onion-buildings.' Last year they got a 

 dollar a bu.shel for their best onions ; and 

 with higher prices on potatoes, wheat, and 

 other things, they think their chances good 

 for something like it this year. And, by the 

 way, I learned one new thing about keeping 

 onions. In every lot of onions there are more 

 or less that will sprout in spite of anv tiling 

 that can be done. These are sorted out and 

 thrown away. Of course, where the quantity 

 is small they can be planted out for bunch on- 

 ions under glass or in the open air in the 

 spring ; but out of a crop of 70,000 bushels the 

 culls or bad onions would be altogether too 

 great in quantity to utilize in this way unless 

 somebody should make a special business of 

 it and supply a special market in some very 

 large city. 



Our Homes. 



And thou shall teach them diligently unto thy 

 children, and .shalt talk of them when thou sitte.st 

 in thy house, and when thou walkest by the wav, and 

 when thou liest down, and when thou risest" up.— 

 Deut. : 7, 8. 



If our readers will look up this whole 6th 

 chapter of Deuteronomy they will notice that 

 Moses has been exhorting the people to this 

 effect: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God 

 with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and 

 with all thy might." Then he goes further 

 and gives the words of our text. And we 

 also notice that he goes still further, and says, 

 "Thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thy 

 hand, and they shall be as frontlets between 

 thine eyes." 



In the Rural New -Yorker ior OcX.. 'i() \hs^ 

 editor submits a question to his readers, and 

 below the question he publishes the replies 

 from several different persons. Here are the 

 questions : 



