The Morning herald., 1876-06-21
PEACHES.

|
What wtlt 1t do this !. The Lo,cer County
thinks of trying something else-Fe,c
| letters of Information.
The farmer as he sits upon his porch and
putfs the smoke from the long reed stem of
his pipe, has reason for pensive express
ion when he gazes upon the peach orchard
spread out before him. 1t is not barren in
its prospects, but yet it is not fruitful it is
just in that state to make the owner feel
gloomy when he notices the scarcity of bear
ing upon the branches, and at the same
time throw him into a spirit of self gratula-
tion when he runs over his bank account at
single glance of mental calculation, and
reckens up what the peach crop of last year
caused him to loose. There the picking, the
shipping and the sleepless nights count
ing up the profits, to find out in the end
that the debit side of his book was nearly
as large as the credit. If he had not touched
peaches that year he would have been inf
nitcly better off, and yet there is infatuation
| about raising the fruit, that is irresistible,
and the lessons of one year avail nothing in
profit for another
| The farmers in the lower counties say that
the peach crop is too much like that of the
| strawberry to be account hereafter, unless
some few drop out oft. They.say that
peach growing has become too general for
money to be easily made. Many have al
ready begun to tire of 1t, and occasionally
we hear the annual grunt coming up on the
winds from the lower sections that ruin and
disaster stares the peach growers in the face.
1t is not so bad in reality, but is discourage
ing, and the culture may be abandoned to
| some extent:
The SeafOrd Citizen, realizes that the far
mers of that county are wasting time look
ing after the peaches and says the sooner it
is abandoned to reasonable extent, the
quicker will the majority of the farmers
study their own interests. 1t speaks as fol-
| lows:
"We believe the farmers of Sussex county
are beginning to realize that their stupend-
GUS peach speculation is failure. The
meagre crop Of this year, with the ruinously
| low prices the fruit will command, will but
augment their sburden of debt and leave
| them just where they commenced !; and as
result Of this, next season, if we are to
| give credence to the expressions of opinoin
among our farmers, the soil of old Sussex
| will be rich in corn and wheat. They have
followed the ignsss fataws long time, but
have finally paused on the very brink of f.
nancial destruction, to contemplate the
wreck behind. The loss to most of those
who embarked in this mad speculation has
been enormous, and it is the decay of hopes
foundation that forces them into a confess
sion that buying peach trees was an unpro-
fitable Investment. We have good land in
this county, admirably adapted to the grow
ing of all cereal crops, while there is a vast
territory of bottom land which could be
protitably utilized, Our farmers are ener-
getic and industrious, but it seems strange
that they will waste both time and labor in
raising unremunerative crops. Diversified
farming is the only panacea for the evil.
"Small farms well titled" will bring more
money to the farltSe'than the thousands of
peach trees he plants"
1t is believed another force has diminish
ed the prospects of large peach crop,
more certainly than that of man could. The
backwardness of the season, worked serious
damages in the fruit prospects, and the
trees suffered blighting consequences. This
it is believed will tend to regulate the mar
ket, and give those who have been fortunate
with their trees better price for fruit than
that obtained last year. But this will only
be for one year, and the farmers are Of i'm !
preston that If those of their calling do not
60 more into diversified crops, they will
find themselves ultimately bankrupted.
1t is impossible to tell now even by esti-
nation from the appearance of the trees
what the full crop will be. Earlier in the |
season it was estimated that the crop would |
reach million and ahalf baskets, but since |
then; the weather has been much milder, |
and more contributiye to peach growth. |
There is every reason to believe that the |
market will be amply supplied, but not over |
burthened, and those who make shipments |
will be better paid for their time and trouble |
than they were last year.
From Seaford, Mr.. George W. Nicholson
writes to The HERALD, and states that he |
cannot give very favorable report of the |
peach prospects in that section. "And |
yet," he continues, 81 can hear of few on |
garden trees, and in some young orchards |
favorably located contiguous to water, but |
these will not amount to over five thousand |
baskets for the entire county. Twas in |
Dorchester county, Maryland, not long
since, and heard of no orchard there entirely |
bare of fruit. The ordinary freight trains,
or market cars will be ample to transport |
all the peaches raised between Seaford and |
Cambridge and between Seaford and Far
mington. There will be no chartered cars
in this neighborhood."
From Georgetown, Sussex county, Mr.. |
Charles G. Stockley writes The HERALD !:
'"The peaches in this county have been de-
stroyed, with the exception of the natural
fruit. We had the prospect of fourth of
crop of Hales until early in May, when
they were nearly all killed. We expect an
excellent crop of apples and pears"
Tae estimate placed upon the crops in
Delaware is nothing like what they were
last year, and in the whole will not be so
great as to glut the market like 1t did then.
This is a matter more for graduation than
regret. And we are rather Of the opinion that
the farmer who sits upon his porch and
views limited bearing Of peaches upon his