Evening star., 1896-12-15
A CELERY CENTER.
What HO1landers Have Accom- Pills n e d
Near N Michigan Town.

Near Michigan Town.
Kalamazoo Cor. Of the New York Post.
Kalamazoo celery Is so well known in
every part of this country that :he name is
used for all the better kinds of ceiecy. and,
like Blue Point oysters and Little Neck
cl;sms," the guarantee coa.a.ned in the
name sells the article 10 the exclusion of
other brands. The excei.encc of This .,ele-
ry is said tn be due to three things-Eood
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 or better
natural conditions a celery region.
The celery meadows are just outside of
the town of Kalamazoo, north and south
o; the city and surrounded by hills. oivid-
ed crosswise by a high ridge, on which The
houses are built. The meadows about
three miles long and a mile wide. These
bottom lands not common farming
lands, but are composed Of n pcci:i.ar fern
of black muck, the result Of vegetable de-
composition, and formerly they. were sc
rich that no fertilizers were needed. t.ot
more than dozen years ago very little eel
cry was raised On these meadows, and none
for shipment to other markets. Joseph
Dunkley. the florist. one of the rio-
neers in the industry, recognizing the pccu-
liar value of the muck soil for N. ry. re
owned che of the earliest celery farms and
ii Is reportel that he amassed fortune
from the business before it was injured 10y
competition.
In recent years the output has been so
enormous that prices have dropped from
20c. to 10c. per dozen. and many growers
have been complaining. The seasons of
1S32-@ were comparatively 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 socn returned to
their home town. The growers nearly
all Hollanders and they live in dwellings
on their small holdings, which generally
consist of from five to ten acres. They are
a frugal, industrious race and they adopt
he most advanced system of intensive
farming. Five acres here easily support
ordinary Holland family. and there is no
doubt but the head of it saves money.
The city of kalamazoo is one of the pret-
tiest in the country. and IT owes not little
of this to the industry of the celery grow
ers. The amount of celery shipped from the
city varies from year to year. but a con-
servative estimate places the average
quantity at sixty tons per day from July
to January 1. This would mean about
3,G00.0o0 dozen. and at 10c. per dozen this
would amount to $4,000 As this is very
low estimate. one is almost safe in saying
that the industry nets the town at least
$500. 600 year.
The punches of celery are packed in
wooden boxes and shipped to commission
men. The boxes are made in the town. CIV
ing employment to a number of mechanics
They are about the size of a peach crate
"A inches long. 16 inches wide and q to 8
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 load of fertilizer. 1t
is claimed that four crops of celery are
raised in one season on the land but this
is not literally true. The farmers make
four paintings, which mature from July TO
December. but these can hardly be called
four crops. The first planting is made
early, and this celery must be bleached
with boards 1t is an inferior grade. The
old saying is that celery is not fit to eat until
after the first frost. and in a 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 summer. and since
people will buy this vegetable out of sea-
son the Kalamazoo growers begin to :end
their product to the cities much earlier
than five years ago.
The question of profit in celery growing
is a disputed one, and. like strawberry
farming, there are stories current of farm
making $500 per acre. while others
claim that if they make $50 per acre they
are doing well. At Greentown. Ohio where
the largest celery farm under the control
of one man is located. the profits are said
to average between 500 and 500 per acre.
There nearly 100 acres planted with
celery on that farm, and il these figures
are correct the owner has every reason to
believe that farming does pay. Like the
Kalamazoo celery lands. the soil at Green
town. Ohio. Is exceedingly 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 $500 or
800 per acre. Here in kalamazoo. the
growers believe that 500 and s3t0 per acre
is a good profit, and a 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.