Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1898-03-07
WHERE CELERY Is KING.
THE CITY OF KALAMAZOO ENJOYS A
UNCLE DISTINCTION.
Raising and Setting Celery Has Become
Its Leading Industry-How Dutch
Emigrants Mnde Fortunes Out of Lands
That Were Considered Worthless.


| That Were Considered Worthless.
To the handsome city of Kalamazoo,
Mich, writes a correspondent of the
Buffalo IN. ~ Express, belongs the
honor of making smellage, q popular
table relish under the name of celery.
Celery, in turn, has made that city
famous as the celery gardens of the
world; in fact, Kalamazoo is now
called the Celery City This city,
with its queer Indian name, was for
years made the target of funny stories
and minstrel songs. Situated ON the
banks of the I.;ver of the same name,
! the city extends back on the hills, and
is acknowledged to be one of the hand
somest cities of its size in the Uniusd
States. The railroads enter Kala-
mazoo along the river bottoms, which
extend for miles, and are the most
fertile lands north of the Ohio River.
The soil is rich muck, and is from two
to eight feet deep.
A stranger entering the city by rail
can distinguish the peculiar odor of
celery gardens long before reaching
the town. During the growing season
it is pretty scene, long rows of bright
green against n black background
Not q weed or brush is to be seen.
Bill Nye said it reminded him of an
Irish womans black dress trimmed
with green braid.
! Celery, as table delicacy, came in
to existence in this way: Among the
early settlers locating in Kalamazoo,
was family direct from Holland,
named Blyker. Dem Blyker was its
head, and his father had accumulated
fortune in the East India Company.
Other families followed and prospered
and finally quite q colony came over
of the poorer class. At this time the
flats or river bottoms were considered
almost worthless lands, but were pre-
ferred by the Holland emigrants.
Many little streams flow down the
hillside, and soon the lane near the
city was parceled and divided into
small plats, like the lowlands of the
Netherlands. 1t was just like home
for them, except that here they soon
could own their own farm. AT first
onions and cabbage were raised and
shipped out to other cities. In 1878 a
gardener named Van Haaften, raised
some smellage, which grew SO rapidly
on the rich muck bottoms that he had
to draw the dirt up against it to keep
it standing. In the fall, when taken
out, it was found to be bleached white
and very brittle and palatable. A sam
pie box was sent to Louisville hotel,
which bought his onions, for trial as
n table relish. The instructions were
to eat it as you would radishes, with
salt, and it was called Kalamazoo Gel.
cry, instead of smellage. The new
relish met with favor at once, and Van
Haaften received orders for the rest of
his crop and orders for the next year
Onions We're that year an over-pro-
duction, while the Kalamazoo celery
sold for seventy-fve cents dozen
stalks.
The next year the Van Haaften fam
lily planted their ground to celery and
made great deal of money. In fact,
they paid for the land and bought
more from their first years sales. The
year following the whole Holland pop
ulation on the flats began to plant eel
cry. Every leading hotel in the
United States was ordering celery, and
land that had sold for $40 to $40 an
acre increased tenfold.
Glen d. Stuart, young business
man, formerly from New York, saw the
possibilities in celery and began bust
ness as celery shipper and soon had
an immense trade. He was q clever
man, and bought whole gardens and
advanced money to new gardeners. In
less than five years he was known as
the Celery King, and did q quarter Of
million dollars worth of business
shipping celery during the year.
In those days celery brought good
price, and every available foot of low
land was utilized. To-day it is esti-
mated that over 1000 Hollanders are
actively engaged in celery culture,
and about 5000 acres of the river
bottoms are devoted to celery gardens.
A million and half of money is paid
to the growers of Kalamazoo Valley
each year for their celery crop.
This celery industry has developed
others, such as box factories, printing
offices, celery medicine companies and
numerous concerns making celery tea,
celery gum, celery cough drops, celery
bitters, celery pickles and chow-chow,
nerve tonic, celery salt, celery soups
and score of other preparations.
All the trunk lines of railroads cater
to the celery trade and run special re-
frigerator cars to all the distant cities.
From the middle of July until after
Christmas the atmosphere of Kalama-
zoo has decided celery flavor. There
is a continual stream of wagons deliv-
ering their product to the express COM
panies from a. m. until about 4 D.
m. The crop of 1897 is estimated at
16, 100000 dozen punches, and will
bring the growers about nine cents per
dozen.