Los Angeles herald., 1905-11-22
CELERY SHIPPING
IS IN FULL SWAY
ENTIRE TRAINL0AD SENT OUT
DAILY
Industry at SmeItzer Is Experiencing
Steady Growth-Peat Lands Now
Worth Hundreds Of DOL
lars an Acre

One of the most interesting sights in
western wonderland Is that of the cell
cry trains which roll out of Smeltzer.
Seventeen carloads daily are now sent
forward, bound for the large cities of
the east. Three thousand seven hum
dred and fifty dollars are the figures at
which these daily shipments are valued
and so heavy is the demand for the
Thanksgiving trade that there is much
doubt as to all of the orders being
filed.
When one considers that 1t was by
chance this great industry was started,
the contrast of ten years ago and to-
day, Is amazing. Before that time the
peatland section of Orange county was
considered both useless and danger
Gus and was inhabited by low class
of Americans who earned a livelihood
by selling the peat cut from their
lands. The surplus impure water has
been carefully drained by means of
canals leading away to the ocean and
a fresh, pure supply has been replaced
from artesian wells.
These wells vary in depth from so to
500 feet One is said to be sufficient
for irrigating hundreds Of acres.
Beginning Of Industry
The man to whom Orange county
owes its wonderful celery industry was
a German named D. e. Smeltzer, who
came to California for his health about
thirteen years ago and whose name is
perpetuated by the little town. The
sight of vast stretches of wild celery
on the peatlands suggested to him the
possibilities of reclaiming the land for
the cultivation of this wholesome vege-
table. This he tried with marked sue
cess.
The peatland, formerly worth less
than $5 an acre, now readily brings 5000
and often rents for $40 an acre for the
one crop.
At the present time these Orange
county celery fields are credited with
being the largest in the world.
In preparing the ground for cultiva-
tion great, heavy plows are used,
drawn by immense horses that in other
days wore large wooden shoes to keep
them from sinking into the bogs. I'm,
proved methods of cultivation have
now done away with all that.
The cost of raising celery is but lit
tie, the planting amounting to 81 an
acre.
The seed beds are planted early in
April. The little plants require a six
weeks start before they are ready to
set out in the broad fields. Here they
are placed much like cabbages, in long,
endless rows they seem, as one looks
over the thousands of acres. The
plants are set about six inches apart
and to permit of easy cultivation and
irrigation the rows are made fully -four
feet apart.
Work of TranspIanting
In June and July, when the trans
planting is done, the water is turned
into the bitches, giving the plants a
thorough soaking, which is all they
need during the summer. The large
force Of men employed for transplant
ing Is much needed after the generous
irrigation to keep out the weeds.
OF the two favorite varieties the
White Plume is the earliest and re-
quires very little earthing up to
blanch. The Golden Heart is the hard
lest and is singularly free from pith
green stalks and strings. The heart of
this hardy variety Is a rich golden
yellow, which turns to a lighter colol
when blanched. One ounce of seed will
produce 5000 plants.
The transplanting team is made up
of ten men. each with his separate
duty-one to furrow out, one to pre-
pare the hole for the little plant four
to trim and pull and four others as
planters and settlers.
The individual grower does not mar
ket his own production. This is done
by the California Vegetable union.
The growers have formed a union
called the Celery Growers association,
which takes charge of the crop early
in October. This association does the
final cultivation, such as blanching and
irrigating, as well as the cutting,
tieing, Grating and carloading.
The plants are cut off underground
by means of long knife fastened to
a frame and operated much like cu1-
tivator. After cutting it off the men
carefully pull out the blanching celery
from under the heavy bank of soil, ar
range 1t in punches, tie it up and
crate 1t, when 1t is ready for ship.
ment. The work of tying and Grating
is done in the fields. From here the
crates are conveyed to the warehouses
and then loaded into the cars
The grower is netted about Is cents
a dozen. AS the cost of production is
only from $50 to $50 an acre he receives
a handsome profit.
The celery is now in excellent condi-
ton and the work of shipping the
enormous crop of $500 cars at which
it is estimated goes steadily on.
Last December the shipments in
creased to such an extent that the
Southern Pacific put on a special cell
cry train from the fields in Smeltzer
to Los Angeles, where the vegetable is
routed for the east. About twenty cars
was the daily output at that time and
was increased gradually as the rush of
the season approached. This increase
was owing to the demand for the holi,
day trade.
New as this celery culture is, over
5000 acres were planted in the peat
lands last year with the acreage large
ly increased during the present year,
and undoubtedly the production viii be
much larger in 1906
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