A GLIMPSE AT “ CELERYVILLE”. 
DEVELOPMENT OF OHIO MUCK LAND. 
The Training of a Wild Swamp. 
Near the thriving town of Chicago Junction, Huron 
County, 0., is situated what is known as the New 
Haven marsh. This and other property was transfer¬ 
red by the United States Government to Connecticut 
parties, who had been sufferers from the raids of the 
British, and is known as “fire landsUntil recently, 
these lands have been considered of little value, and 
were covered with water a great part of the time. 
First a small drain was put through a portion of 
them, which made the tract possible for use as pasture 
land and for raising cranberries. However, little was 
done in the way of reclamation until about five years 
ago, when the present owner of the portion which is 
the subject of this sketch, H. C. Johnson, unavoidably 
came into possession of 1,000 acres of this marsh, 
which is vari¬ 
ously said to 
contain from 
5,000 to 7,000 
acres. Under 
the drainage 
laws of Ohio, a 
canal aboutfive 
miles long and 
averaging 4 0 
feet wide and 10 
feet deep, was 
constructed 
which gives 
ample drainage 
If one could 
pick up and ex- 
amine this 
marsh as he 
could anything 
that it were 
possible to 
handle in such 
a manner, and 
if he could cut 
it in two in a 
horizontal sec¬ 
tion, he would 
find that this 
whole marsh is 
underlaid with 
blue clay form¬ 
ing a perfect 
basin from' 15 
to 18 feet below 
the surface in 
the deepest 
part, gradually 
sloping up until 
it reaches what is called the “shore”. The body 
making up what is called the marsh is like a large 
sponge which is cut to fit a basin. 
The marsh or muck land is almost entirely of vege¬ 
table mold. The soil is of a chocolate color, or what 
is commonly called red peat, which by cultivation 
changes its color to a dark brown, resembling rich 
bottom land to the uninitiated. But a little experi¬ 
ence soon undeceives the novice, for there is little 
plant food in its consistency ; yet every year found a 
crop of weeds seemingly larger than that of the year 
before—indeed, so heavy and tall were they that one 
might almost get lost in their depths. This vegetable 
deposit is a peat and burns readily when dry ; it is a 
great absorbent and, notwithstanding the large canal 
mentioned has been opened to drain this large tract, 
it does not become dry or release all of its moisture 
in the driest seasons. This is owing to its nature, 
not to the lack of proper drainage. I drove upon this 
tract of land one fall during a dry season,^and there 
was every evidence from the looks of the soil that it 
was dry, and had it been of the nature of the “ powder 
lands”, so well known, it would have been blowing 
away into the next township. I found that, on re¬ 
moving not over an inch of the surface, and squeez¬ 
ing some of that below in my hand, I could bring 
drops of water from the lump. 
With a tract of land on one’s hands like this, which 
was spoken of as being good to raise only sand-hill 
cranes and rattlesnakes ; which when farmed, had 
been treated after the manner of upland ; land which 
no one wanted ; what could be done with it ? Here, 
indeed, was an opportunity. In January, 1895, the 
Ohio Celery Company was organized with H. C. John¬ 
son as its president, and E. J. Hollister, manager, the 
latter a man who had made a life study of muck soils 
and the placing of them under a proper state of culti¬ 
vation. Previous to this, as indicated, the attempts 
to cultivate this tract had been marked with very 
limited success, adding to the already strong prejudice 
against the land. 
The first season, the Ohio Celery Company had small 
tracts in different parts cultivated. This was done 
both where the land had been cultivated previously, 
and where it was still in a state of nature, unbroken 
and covered with the rank growth of goldenrods, ferns 
and weeds. Good results were obtained, and the com¬ 
pany succeeded in producing a handsome crop of celery 
in September, in places that had been occupied by the 
ferns and reeds in June. The first work was, of course, 
the breaking of the soil, which was done with a sulky 
plow with three horses attached ; then the peat was 
cut with disk harrows, rolled and recut, and leveled 
with levelers made of planks. The proper plant 
foods were applied to produce the result desired, as 
the soil is deficient in all plant foods except nitrogen. 
Commercial fertilizers are used to a large extent and 
with marked success, but the largest supply of ferti¬ 
lizer that this tract has conveniently at hand is 
furnished by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Chicago 
Junction is a divisional point on this railroad, and 
stock cars are cleaned here on their way West. The 
result is thousands of loads of manure annually which 
can be had for a nominal figure. 
The second work was the making passable of a pub¬ 
lic road through the marsh, by covering the former 
muck road with clay. With the taking up of land, 
it was necessary to provide houses for the people, and 
now a hamlet of a dozen houses of neat and homelike 
appearance and a tasty school house have been built 
on the high land adjoining the marsh. There is also 
a commodious packing and shipping house for the 
convenient handling of the product of the land. It is 
equipped with modern appliances, among which is the 
Hollister patent washing machine, which washes and 
cools the celery at the same time, securing a safe 
shipment of 
this delicate 
table luxury. 
See Fig. 259. 
In the hamlet 
of Celeryville, 
10 families of 
Hollanders 
from Kalama¬ 
zoo have pur¬ 
chased houses 
and small hold¬ 
ings of muck 
land, which is 
plotted in five- 
acre lots and 
sold at prices 
ranging from 
$60 to $100 per 
acre, on time 
payments run¬ 
ning five years. 
This is men¬ 
tioned to show 
what has been 
accomplished 
in the short 
space of 12 
months with 
undesirable 
property. 
This season, 
80 acres of 
celery have 
beeD cultivated 
with phenome¬ 
nal success, 
comma nd i n g 
the highest 
prices in the leading markets of the country. This 
is now being rapidly shipped by five or six shipping 
companies, which find a ready sale for the product, 
especially in the many cities adjacent to this tract. 
The illustrations give us an idea of some of the 
newer processes employed in modern celery produc¬ 
tion. Fig. 258 shows how celery is cut, on the large 
plantations, by horse power. A machine formed like 
a large draw-knife is mounted on wheels and hauled 
by two horses. The knife passes along under the 
ground and cuts off the roots. The plants are then 
picked up into crates and hauled to the washing room. 
Fig. 259 shows the Hollister device for washing 
celery. A perforated pipe is hung so that it rotates 
sufficiently to throw water the entire length of the 
celery. Under this pipe is a sliding platform. The 
man puts the celery as it comes from the field at one 
end. This is put under the revolving pipe which 
turns back and forth so as to throw its water on all 
CELERY BY THE ACRE; CUTTING BY HORSE POWER. Fig. 258. 
