January  20,  1898. 
JOURNAL  OP  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
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MARKET  GARDENS,  DENVER,  COLORADO. 
By  way  of  preface,  Denver  is  located  at  an  altitude  of  5196  feet. 
According  to  the  observations  of  the  United  States  Signal  Service  Bureau 
the  average  temperature  is  49°  (the  average  maximum  being  79°  and  the 
average  minimum  19°)  ;  the  average  annual  rainfall  or  melted  snow, 
14-95  inches  ;  the  average  number  of  days  per  annum  on  which  snow  or 
rain  falls,  81  ;  average  number  of  sunny  days,  340. 
The  Denver  of  the  “sixties ’’was  a  struggling  frontier  settlement  of 
less  than  5000  peoide,  700  miles  west  of  the  nearest  railroad.  The  Denver 
of  to-day  is  a  city  of  165,000  people,  with  numerous  seven,  eight,  and 
nine-storey  business  buildings  and  hotels,  150  miles  of  electric  and  cable 
street  car  lines,  and  the  “  hub  ”  from  which  radiate  over  26,000  miles  of 
railroads,  giving  quick  access  to  every  part  of  the  United  States,  and 
placing  Denver  within  thirty-six  hours  of  Chicago,  fifty  hours  of  New 
York,  and  ten  days  of  London.  In  the  early  “  sixties  ”  a  Denver  man 
who  had  the  temerity  to  attempt  to  raise  Cabbages  evoked  much  merri¬ 
ment.  He  succeeded,  however,  and  sold  his  Cabbages  readily  at  Central 
Africa  prices,  namely,  from  50  cents  (28.)  to  75  cents  (3s.)  per  pound. 
I  known.  The  rich  sandy  soil  near  Denver  seems  peculiarly  adapted  for  it. 
I  A  fevv  years  ago  Celery  from  Michigan  was  considered  the  finest  in 
America,  but  now  takes  second  place  to  the  Colorado  product.  Denver 
I  Celery  commences  to  go  to  market  early  in  August,  long  before  Celery 
I  from  any  other  point  is  fit  to  eat,  and  excels  in  being  sweet,  brittle,  and 
I  succulent.  Speaking  from  personal  experience,  it  is  infinitely  superior  to 
English  grown  Celery  in  appearance,  crispness,  and  flavour,  the  Colorado 
growers  producing  a  small,  compact,  white,  and  useable  head,  with  the 
maximum  of  heart  and  the  minimum  of  outside,  as  against  the  larger, 
coarser,  and  inferior  head  usual  in  England,  and  marketed  there  with 
I  tough,  stringy,  purple,  red,  or  green  outside  stems. 
!  The  Celery  is  raised  in  hotbeds  early  in  the  spring,  and  by  the  time 
the  ground  is  ready  the  seedlings  are  large  enough  to  transplant  into 
rows.  Here  they  are  irrigated  and  cultivated  until  grown  with  a  good 
top,  when  the  gardener  prepares  for  bleaching.  This  is  done  by  Iniilding 
'  a  protection  of  boards  for  the  lower  part  of  the  plant,  in  such  a  way  that 
when  comideted  the  Celery  looks  as  if  it  were  in  a  trough.  Only  the  tops 
are  visible,  the  bottom  part  being  concealed  by  the  boards,  held  in  place 
by  stakes  driven  in  the  ground.  When  the  stalk  is  bleached  perfectly 
Eia.  10.— LOS  ALTOS,  SANDOWN,  ISLE  UE  WIGHT. 
giving  h’m  the  laugh  on  his  neighbours.  Erom  that  beginning,  but 
chiefly  during  the  last  ten  years,  the  vicinity  of  Denver,  by  means  of 
artificial  irrigation,  has  become  a  district  of  market  gardens,  brief  par- 
ticula  s  of  which  will  interest  your  readers. 
Four  or  five  years  ago  a  few  vegetables  were  shipped  from  Denver  by 
express — i.e.,  parcel  company,  but  not  until  1894  was  any  attempt  made 
to  ship  mixed  vegetables  in  carload  lots.  Since  that  time,  however,  the 
business  has  grown  in  a  wonderful  manner,  until  now  the  local  market 
gardens  not  only  supply  Denver  and  many  other  parts  of  Colorado, 
particularly  .he  mining  districts,  from  7000  to  11,000  feet  altitude,  but 
most  of  Texas,  with  considerable  shipments  to  Arizona,  Utah,  Montana, 
Wyoming,  and  other  States,  where  the  summer  heat  is  too  great  for 
successful  gardening. 
The  first  carload  of  Denver  vegetables  shipped  to  Texas  proved  such 
a  success,  that  last  year  one  whole  train  of  fifteen  refrigerator  cars  went 
to  the  principal  towns  of  Texas,  besides  numerous  other  considerable 
shipments,  and  this  season  already  eighty  cars  have  been  shipped,  with  a 
still  greater  number  to  follow.  Be  it  remembered  that  these  refrigerator 
cars  have  a  capacity  of  20  tons  each.  The  list  comprises  Potatoes, 
Cabbage.?,  Celery,  Tomatoes,  Turnips,  Parsnips,  and  any  other  crops  in 
season.  The  crops  are  frequently  contracted  for  beforehand  :  say  a  given 
number  of  acres  of  Cabbages,  of  Celery,  of  Tomatoes,  or  other  kinds,  so 
that  the  gardener  knows  what  to  grow.  Intense  cultivation,  and  with 
suitable  soil,  heavy  manuring,  good  cultivation  and  climate,  heavy  crops 
are  the  invariable  result. 
Colorado  Celery  already  has  a  name  for  superiority  wherever  it  is 
white  the  Celery  is  dug,  the  roots  trimmed  off,  and  tied  in  liunches  of  a 
dozen  heads  to  the  bunch.  It  is  then  ready  for  the  market.  Last  year 
hundreds  of  acres  of  Celery  were  grown  irnder  contract  for  export.  This 
year  the  acreage  will  be  doubled  to  supply  the  demand.  A  visit  to  the 
Celery  farms  along  the  Platte  River  will  show  some  of  the  most  pros])erous 
people  around  Denver.  The  oldest  Celery  garden  can  boast  of  but  eight 
years,  yet  the  owner  has  a  handome  brick  house  and  one  of  the  neatest 
and  most  comfortable  homes  in  the  valley.  It  seems  a  money-making 
business,  but  requires  experience  and  careful  work  to  make  it  successful. 
As  to  other  vegetables,  it  may  be  stated  that  one  Denver  factory  has 
this  season  contracted  for  five  hundred  (500)  acres  of  local  Tomatoes  at 
9  dols.,  or  about  37s.  per  ton  delivered,  the  crop  ranging  from  10  to 
15  tons  to  the  acre.  The  growers  have  the  privilege  of  selling  all  they 
can  at  the  best  prices  they  can  to  the  wholesale  and  retail  trade  for  fresh 
consumption,  the  factory  taking  the  surplus  at  the  above  rate.  Such 
factory  has  a  force  of  considerably  over  150  people  in  its  canning  depart¬ 
ment.  The  same  concern  has  also  purchased  last  season  30,000  bushels 
of  locally  grown  small  Cucumbers  for  pickling. 
As  to  winter  vegetables,  one  man  in  the  outskirts  of  Denver  has 
20,000  square  feet  of  glass,  in  which  greenhouses  he  grows  Lettuces, 
Radishes,  Onions,  Cucumbers,  Tomatoes,  Parsley,  and  Mushrooms,  the 
latter  sometimes  selling  at  as  high  as  40  cents  (Is.  8d.)  per  lb.  It  is 
estimated  that  the  market  gardeners  around  Denver,  in  addition  to  their 
large  trade  in  Colorado,  will  this  year  receive  1,000,000  dols.  (£200,000) 
from  other  States.  A  number  of  them  are  Englishmen,  like — Thomas 
Tonue. 
