Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1896-11-20
WHERE CELERY IS RAISED.
holIanders Near Kalamazoo Have Made
That Place Center for the Product.

name Is used for all the better kinds OF
celery and, like Blue Point oysters
and Little Neck CLANS" the guarantee
contained in the name sells the article
to the exclusion Of other brands. The
excellence of this celeryis said to be due
to three things-good seed. dark heavy
soil and care in growing and bleaching
it. Careful packing might be added
But as any gardener can select good
seed and give the plants good culture
Kalamazoo must excel in the soil OF
better natural conditions as a celery
region.
The celery meadows are just outside
of the town of Kalamazoo, north and
south of the city, and surrounded by
hills. divided crosswise by high ridge
on which the houses are built. The
meadows are about three miles long
and mile wide These bottom lands
are not common farming lands, but
are composed of peculiar form OF
black muck, the result of vegetable de-
composition, and formerly they were
so rich that no fertilizers We're needed
Not more than a dozen years ago very
little celery was raised on these mead
ows and none for shipment to other
markets. Joseph Dunkly, the florist,
was one of the pioneers in the indus
try, recognizing the peculiar value of
the muck soil for celery. He owned one
of the earliest celery farms and it is
reported that he amassed a fortune
from the business before it was in
jured by competition.
In recent years the output has been
so enormous that prices have dropped
from 20 cents to 10 cents per dozen, and
many growers have been complaining.
The seasons of 1928 We're compare
lively poor ones, and a number of the
growers left their farms to engage in the
same business in the suburbs of New
York, but they soon returned to their
home town. The growers are nearly all
Hollanders, and they live in dwellings
on their small holdings, which gener-
ally consist of from five to ten acres.
They are a frugal, industrious race.
and they adopt the most advanced
system of intensive farming. Five
acres here easily support an ordinary
Holland family, and there is no doubt
but the head of 1t saves money.
The city of Kalamazoo is one of the
prettest in the country. and it owes
not a little of this to the industry of
the celery growers. The amount of
celery shipped from the city varies from
year to year. but a conservative esti-
mate places the average quantity at
sixty tons per day from July l to Jan.
L. This would mean about 100000
dozen. and at 10 cents a dozen this
would amount to $360.000. AS this is
very low estimate, one is almost safe
in saying that the industry nets the
town at least 100000 a year.
The punches of celery are packed in
wooden boxes and shipped to commits
sion men. The boxes are made in the
towr. giving employment to a number
of mechanics. They are about the size
of peach crate. tWenty-four inches
long. sixteen inches wide and six to
eight inches deep.
Fertilizers are now used freely upon
the already rich bottom lands, and
every time a grower takes a load of
celery into the town he brings back a
load of fertilizer 1t is claimed that four
crops of celery are raised in one sea-
son on the land, but this is not literal
ly true. The farmers make four plant
ings. which mature from July to De-
cemler. but these can hardly be called
four crops. The first planting is made
early, and as this celery must be
bleached with boards it is an inferior
grade. The old saying is that celery is
not fit to eat until after the first frost
and in sense this is true. but modern
conditions of our markets demand that
celery shall be ready for use all the
year round. The southern growers
send it north early in the summer. and
since people will buy this vegetable
out of season the Kalamazoo growers
begin to send their product to the
cities much earlier than five years ago.
The question of profit in celery grow
ing is disputed one, and, like straw
berry farming, there are stories cur
rent of farmers making $500 per acre,
while others claim that if they make
$50 per acre they are doing WELL At
GreentOwn, O.. where the largest cell
cry farm under the control of one man
is located, the profits are said to av-
erage between 5000 and $500 per acre.
There are nearly 100 acres planted with
celery on that farm, and if these fig
ures are correct the owner has every
reason to believe that farming does
pay. Like the Kalamazoo celery lands,
the soil at Greentown, O., is exceeding
~ rich and well adapted to the culture
Of the celery plant. But even So
cheap labor must be employed to make
the farm pay anything like 5000 or $500
per acre. Here in Kalamazoo the
growers believe that 800 and 5000 per
acre is a good profit, and man with
ten acres of soil need not suffer greatly
with such an income. Six years ago|
the same land could have made profits
Of $500 per acre. but then the growers
were receiving just twice as much for
their celery as they are today.-New
York Sun.
London Crystal Palace Saturday con-
certs have entered upon the 41st year