Delaware tribune. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1867-1877, 1868-06-25

| |
market was at hand Philadelphia, only
twenty miles away, was too far to wagon to
| 1t the pershable fruits. The distance, al
ready great, was made greater by reasons
of roads intolerably sandy. II was there
fore useless to produce fruit which II was
impossible to deliver promptly to the con-
sumer Some, however, whose land Dor
dered on the Delaware, managed occasion
| ally to reach the city by means OF shailops
But the contingencies of wind and tide were
such that no one could be certain OF getting
there ON time. Ii arriving too late, or if de-
tanned too long in tranSitat, the market
hours were over, the fruit was in Il perish
| ing condition, and prices sunk to almost
nothing. Hence the absence of q market
discouraged all extensive effort at fruit grow
| ing.
But the opening of the great railroad he
/, tween the two cities quickencd the whole
fruit-region of New Jersey into golden life.
1t traversed that peculiar belt of land in this
county which has since become famous for |
| its fruit crop, and created market for what
ever it could produce. 1t supplied the sole
want of our location, by letting out our |
products, and letting in stream Of wealth |
from distant cities. Heretofore we had |
glutted every little village community with |
Strawberries at sixpence quart hut now |
we were left free TO grapple with great city
appetites, whose consuming voraclty We had
no means of estimating. Our warm and
genial soil, moreover, ripencd all the fruits
week TO ten days earlier than New York
and Boston had been accustomed to aud
prices went up encouragingly under the new
demand upon us. Sixpencc ceased to be the
standard for Strawberries. Even the here
tofore- surfeited Villages were compelled 10
advance with the improved tariff. Demand
stimulated production was found to exceed
ingly profitable; ii brought in an enormous
aggregate of money with which manures
were purchased land was enriched, better
, houses and fences were built, and splendid
gravel turnpikcs superseded the old sandy
thoroughfarcs. The foundation Of this re-
markable transformation lay in the unlimit
ed market which the railroad brought to our
doors. Without it, we had been Kissing
and an astonishmcntt to the world but with
| il, if the Kissing has ceased, the astonish-
| ment continues.
admit, that, up to the advent Of the rail
/ road, the Vermont example OF eight dollars
!. All acre may have been thankfully accepted
i by hundreds of culiiyators in this vicinity.
S They, like the Nermontcr could do no bet
o ter, and were contented Tor they also
y counted even that a success. But that gen
Grafton has left the stage of active life and
;. been succeeded by another, which, like our
= horses, has been educated to the railroad
= Within twenty years, rye has given place to
rs asparagus, which we plant In great fields OF
n ten to twenty acres. Well planted. it will
N cost hundred dollars to set an acre but il
Ell will continue productive for twenty wears
II and, il properly cared for will clear two
10 hundred dollars annually. 1t comes CRATE
4 fully into market directly after the ground i.
lie clear of frost, and is eagerly sought after
pf in every market. There are men all
m round me who have made small
fortunes out of this single article. Ther
&c comes the strawberry, for which there is til,
in same cyer-rccurring public impotence.
,lf have seen patches of this fruit, from wnicl
he the runners have been carefully cut, and tn,
OF plants covered with coarse manure in win
ne Ter, from which clear profit, over picking
he and marketing, of five hundred dollars pc
nr acre, has been realized. | know that ther
Ia are hundreds VINO do not clear fifth of thi
m, per acre but the difference does not lii
las either in the soil, the berry, or the market
RS but exclusively in the man. 1t Il not muscl
me that produces the strawberry crop whic
M carries OIL the top price in market but brains
10 Yet so wonderfully hardy is this plant, an
10 SO generously docs it bear even under tn
HE unkindes, treatment, that the vcricat slug
wo gard has been known 10 greatly exceed til
ns Vermont standard of eight dollars per acr,
Thus one acre of Strawberries can he mad
the to produce MS much rs two Of asparagus.
oly These continue in bearing until the iasl
ers berries are ready to be picked. Now, tw
for acres of raspbcrrcs will require no moi
Lis labor to keep them in condition than one ,
itv Strawberries; yet it is an cyery-year res,l
M. 10 lake Il rec or four hundred iollals wort
Inc Of fruit from Il single acre. The reasons Il
III this are conclusive. The plants do NJ
i'm blossom until after the very latest frost h,
,ws fallen; hence the crop is never blasted. IT
nj. raspberry is universal iavoric; and Ill
Il il supply is never up to the demand us its Gu
ia tivalion has been strangely neglected hcht
mir it commands high prices. The improve
nm. varieties are enormous bearers, making #
i, aggregate receipts from m acre So LARGO
hai to he almost incredible. Even from II
Mil common purplc-eanc variety. have know
, a. sixteen hundred dollars worth TO be rathc
mi ed and sold from n field of three nrr,
From all the facts occurring around me.
. would seem impossible 10 suggest n mo
advantageous investment than that of rms
iE. berry. culture.
This fruit has hardly disappearcd fro
y market when the blackberry comes N
,1 crafty with II new sensation the sun -uns.
pI annette of the millions who reside in ,
I'm ties Many varieties of Ills iruit are 90,
lary prline for nublic preference. The Dorch,
d Ms Ter aud Lawton are most generally know
mn and have been longest tested. / presn,
''''- no one will dispute the eullincss nnd /,
one ,i,,,aross n ,in ~ rnhosta H. w =.
d in ,,ro1n,,i,,onos " ,h io,,.,',, '''I ,'o ".
l, - '.I II MINI, , :,
-. lars worth of Tie Dorchester from The ii
saih weeks picking upon two and a half acr
mbi- II lipens very early, retains lis color all
M ho;ni, ,;ol,oI nnd ~ ~ ,nI;,,',,,,1 n' o.
IF VIZ" "ar,,, ~ y, ,rot,soi1. ns ~, Ia,
lis carlincss brings IN the difference in /
u TO cash result Two acres in Ills lruit viii
hun ,'',iro III. l,oi,;,a No., ii'an ~,
~ IL '''' d. 's"H's 80 ~ ~ y" a'''
III ,i,r,, IN MN, u, l., .''',
oil , ; az al, ,i ~, 9'',oessi'
alive ,g ~, ,;t
i'm. m ~ 49, iio"'