Smyrna times., 1873-07-16

this denial.
THE PEACH CREDIT MOBuIER.- Phila.
Ledger of Monday has the following editorial
1.-The Delaware Peach Growers are lust
now severely criticised throughout the country
for their fuctuating estimates of the growing
peach crop, sometimes Overstating and again
undertaking it. 1t used to be that the state
ments emanatlng from their Dover meetings
were trusted as fairly accurate, but at the
recent meeting it leaked out that recent
estimates were made to influence the market.
The New York Times points out the fact that
last year the peach growers under estimated
the crop half million baskets, and that they
are evidently at the same work this year. when
they cut down their spring estimate of 2237,-
600 baskets to less than one million baskets
now. This it thinks too great change, and
that the public are evidently Of the same mind
The Boston journal says the spring estimate
this year was Intentionally exaggerated" so
as to attract purchase and it is quite prob
able that the summer estimate is with euual
design made too small, the object now being
to advance prices on the basis of short crop
Our Delaware friends should adhere to their
old time steady ways, and avoid the dark ways
of the "bulls' and the ''bears."
Away from home, we think it quite proba.
bic, the Peninsular Fruit Growers Assoca-
ton is taken at much more than its real
value. 1t generally succeeds in making big
display and a formidable array of figures, on
paper, and its name is rather high sounding.
but that is the most that can be said of it.
Our unsophisticated city cousins have no idea
that this euphoniously named deliberative body
Is frequently not composed of more than
dozen windy members with half as mapy
reporters, who " study to please" and manage
to get every members name in print who
attends And instead of being the great
representative body that our city cousins are so
rashly accrediting it TO be, it is mostly made
up of few growers between Middletown and
Dover, inclusive, who attend the meetings to
open new routes, which they don't do, and
abuse the railroad company, which they do do.
And again, our city cousins do not know how
these few members arrive at an estimate for
the entire Peninsula neither do those to the
manor born. But we think if they did they
would not be surprised that they sometimes
miss the mark by half. million baskets or
more.
City papers do not know what risky thing
it is to predicate a peach crop, or they would
hardly accuse this Association, what there is
of it, of trying to bull the market or create
''corner" in peaches. The predictions to-
day will not answer for tomorrow, hence the
difference between the estimates of June and
those Of July. The experience heretofore has
been that the fruit on the trees 10 June would
generally stick, but this year has proved an
exception to this ruIe-if there are any rules
in peach culture. The fruit has fallen off con.
tlnually, until there is none, or very little, to
fall. No one can tell how near the Association
came to guessing the crop in June, nor how
near they are right now, but the disparity in
their estimltes was fully justified by the de.
probation IN the prospect. And let the esti-
mates be worth much or little, no one who
knows th3 bakers dozen of clever gentlemen
will accuse them Of aiming at sharp practices.
The figures are honest, however worthless thew
mty b.. Aulther thing may be said in favor
Ui l4- IS -,-iitlOni no other twelve men can
do any better guessing than they who attend
1t. With no organized committees to make up
statistics; with no knowledge of the number
OF trees In bearing with no representation Of
the fruit growers of the Peninsula in atten.
dance; with nothing, in fact, before the
august body but table of railroad shipments
for the previous year, they proceed TO make
an imposing array of figures after the manner
OF young carpenter who made his estimate
for building a Oke-hOuse-"2 from you
cant; from an nothing the price will be
SO much" This table the outside world ac.
cept as the sum and substance of the Delaware
peach CROP And hardly are these estimates
given to the world before "a frost, killing
frost comes and destroys what little value
there may have been in the figures Ia it any
wonder that city newspapers should miscon.
Strue such disinterested motives when thus
ruthlessly thwarted?
This figuring up the peach crop is becoming
rather ridiculous business. Some time in
May an estimate was started out by a Kent
county (Md.) farmer through the Germantown
Telegraph, which vent the rounds of the
press. This estimate figured the yield at two
tnirds OF a crop, or two.thirds of 1000 OOO
baskets. A Wilmington paper, not satisfied
with this 100000 showing, put a full crop at
100000, while another Wilmington paner-
and many outside of mington-hooted a.
any such display Of nonsense aud numerals. and