SUCCESS IN SMALL SPECIALTIES. 



3 



beside the Rio Grande ; almost within the everglades 

 of Florida, and upon the western prairies ; in the great 

 cities of the Atlantic coast, and in the metropolis of the 

 Rockies." 



"The soil looks and feels rich, being of inky black- 

 ness, and soft and spongy to the touch," says the same 

 correspondent. "My own investigation leads me to 

 believe that the porosity of the soil and its consequent 

 copious saturation (the elevation being but slightly 

 above the river-bed), and the careful and painstaking 

 methods of the Hollanders, who are almost alone en- 

 gaged in the culture, are prime factors in the success 

 that has been attained. This is corroborated by cir- 

 cumstantial evidences : I. The celery plant loves a cool, 

 moist bed; heat and drought are its mortal enemies. 

 2. Americans who have engaged in this work here have 

 not been successful. It is true that they can grow 

 celery, and good celery, and secure a large yield ; but 

 they can not control the cost of production so that they 

 can compete successfully with the Hollander. 3. The 

 most successful growers are those who use constantly 

 the largest amount of manure. Stable manure is used 

 almost wholly, and any great extension of the business 

 must depend largely upon an increased supply of that 

 material. All that is now produced in and about the 

 town is eagerly taken up at a good price. I could not 

 learn of a single instance of the use of a commercial 

 fertilizer." 



Since 1875, when the first patch was planted by a 

 Hollander, the area of cultivation has grown from 

 nothing to 13,000 acres, and the prices of celery land, 

 in the same pejriod, have advanced from a nominal I30 

 per acre to $500 and even $600 per acre. The individual 

 holdings are usually small, running from one to five 

 acres, or as much as can be worked by " family power." 

 The largest farm contains 50 acres, and is run by an 

 American. 



GROWING THE CROP. 



The method is as follows : For the first crop the seed 

 is sown in hotbeds in February. The plants are set in 

 the open ground as early in May as the weather will 

 permit. Trenches about six inches deep are usually 

 prepared, partly filled with manure, and in these the 

 plants are set from four to six inches apart, the trenches 

 being four to five feet apart. In the meantime a second 

 sowing of seed has been made in a finely-prepared seed- 

 bed out of doors, and in June the plants from this are 

 set out for second crop between the first rows. Other 

 sowings of seed are continued, and when the first crop 

 comes off, which is from the tenth of July to the first 

 of August, the rows are immediately filled with plants 

 for the third crop. A fourth crop is then put out in like 

 manner by the more ambitious growers as soon as the 

 second is harvested. Closer planting in the first in- 

 stance, as practiced by some, prevents this rapid suc- 

 cession of crops, as it does not give soil enough to each 

 row for successful hilling. The blanching of the celery 

 is accomplished either by hilling up closely with earth, 

 or by confining the growing plants between boards 



which are held together with clamps. Of the many 

 varieties grown, the White Plume seems to be the general 

 favorite. As soon as the celery is matured and blanched, 

 it is dug, trimmed of all green and superfluous stalks and 

 leaves, washed in sluices or tanks, tied in compact bundles 

 of twelve heads each, and at once delivered to the dealers. 



WINTER STORAGE. 



As soon as freezing weather begins, all the remaining 

 plants are taken up and stored. The general method 

 has been by building "coops," which are made by ex- 

 cavating about two feet below the natural surface of 

 the soil, and then boarding up two feet more, making 

 sides four feet high. A ridge-pole six feet above the 

 center is then placed on supports, and the whole roofed 

 with 14-foot boards, thus covering a pit 24 feet wide. 

 The outside is then banked up with earth, the roof 

 covered with straw. A house thus cheaply built will 

 resist great cold. These coops are built from 100 to 300 

 feet long, as the needs of the grower require. 



This method is now being superseded to a large extent 

 by simply burying the celery in trenches. A trench is 

 dug two feet wide and two deep and of any desired 

 length. The plants are packed in this upright upon their 

 roots, as closely as they can be placed, and covered with 

 straw, earth and manure, as deeply as may be thought 

 necessary to exclude frost.. This method of winter 

 storing seems to be growing in favor, and it is claimed 

 that the celery comes out in better condition than when 

 stored in coops. 



CAN OTHERS COMPETE ? 



There may be some features in the Kalamazoo celery 

 industry which one can admire, out there are more 

 which we do not like. The methods here adopted are un- 

 American, and the whole business is based on a system 

 of drudgery to which the vegetable-grower in America 

 should not submit. Americans, it seems, might find it 

 hard to compete with people who, like these Holland- 

 ers, manage to make a living by employing the whole 

 family — father, mother, grandparents and children of 

 all ages and sizes — and keeping them at work every 

 waking hour. 



Mr. Reeve was forced to the conclusion that the 

 Kalamazoo growers do not find a great profit in the 

 business. True, those who are engaged in it appear to 

 keep to their occupation very contentedly, and to secure 

 a good living from it; but this is merely owing to the 

 economical conditions of their (un-American) labor 

 system. If they were forced to employ able-bodied 

 workingmen at full prices for the various operations, 

 and then to sell their products to the dealers as they 

 now do, it is doubtful whether the industry would 

 survive. 



Here, as in many other cases, the middlemen (dealers) 

 and transportation companies appear to get the lion's 

 share of the proceeds. If a small share of the efforts 

 which the growers put into the task of producing the 

 crop were used for the improvement of the market 

 end, and especially for successfully dispensing with 



