The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1876-05-20
The 1afttt&
FRUIT CULTURE.


For upward of fifteen years the prin-
cipal crop of the most enterprising land
owners of this Peninsula has been that
of fruit. More than forty years ago,
Mr.. Ridway, one of the most wealthy
merchants of Philadelphia, with a Mr..
Reeves, practical fruit grower of New
Jersey, bought a small tract of land
living on the south side of the Delaware
and Chesapeake Canal, along the Della
ware river They planted upon it
1000 or 5000 peach trees and small
quantity of each Of those varieties of
small fruits grown in Upper Jersey
for the New-York and Philadelphia
markets, and that was the beginning
of the culture of fruit for the markets
in Delaware Although the soil of this
farm was not nearly so good for the pur-
pose of fruit culture as much of the land
which surrounded it, it produced fine
crops, espec ally of peaches, which in
duced the Messrs. Reybold plant peach
orchards largely, and for a few years
after Their orchards came into bearing
they grew fine crops, and sold them for
good prices, which resulted in placing
them among the most independent
farmers of the community.
Thirty years ago much of the land
of the upper part Of New Castle county,
lying along the river, as a result Of the
experiment of Messrs Ridgeway and
Reeves and the success Of the Messrs.
eybold, was planted in peaches, and
as Northern and Central New Jersey
was at that time largely planted with
peaches, the markets were SO filled up
with that fruit, that oftentimes the fruit
sold as low as five cents per basket for
the very best quality.
The Messrs. Reybold, during one
season, established line Of steamers
between their orchards at Delaware
City and New York, to carry away
their fruit and it is said that quite often,
when cargoes could not be sold for such
prices as those gentlemen were willing
to take for them, they would carry
them out to sea, and dump them over
board while making the passage back
to Delaware. Then twenty-five cents
per basket for good peaches was not con-
sidered very low, and if grower could
make his fruit command twenty-five
cents per basket above expenses, he
reckoned he was doing pretty well But
so many orchards had been planted,
and so extensive became the cultivation
of peaches, that by 1856 peach culture
was found to be Improbable. From
some cause, trees planted and cared for
under the very best management, be-
came unhealthy, and We're affected with
disease peculiar to the peach, and
known among growers as yellows,"
because it made itself known by turning
the leaves yellow, and giving the trees
an unhealthy look. Although tree
thus affected would live and grow to
some extent from year to year, it
would not bear fruit Whole orchards
We're thus affected. And there We're
many speculations as to the causes
which led to this result. Some alleged
that too much lime in the land produced
it, and that was the general opinion for
several years. Another theory was
that peach orchards created an element
in the atmosphere that was destructive
to the growth of young trees. This
theory had its origin in the fact that on
many farms which had proved most
suitable for the cultivation of peaches,
and on which had been grown large
crops, it was found that young orchards
would not yield any fruit, and when
they should have been in their full
vigor they became affected with the
" vellows" SO disastrous was this
disease to these Delaware growers, that
by 1858 the orchards of New Castle
county had been reduced to very
small compass, and only few of the
more enterprising or venturesome cult
waited the peach at all. The New Jer-
sey orchards had died out, it being
found that they could not be cultivated
profitably in that State, owing to the
same causes, and soon peaches became
so scarce, that those who had orchards
found great profit in them, even when
not one tree in ten bore fruit
About 1855 Mr.. Cassidy, a merchant
of Baltimore, bought in the lower part
of Cecil county, Maryland, on the Sas-
safras river, tract of 700 or 500
acres of land, and planted some 10000
or 10000 peach trees upon it and
brought the orchard to fine healthy
condition, but, becoming embarrassed,
the farm was sold at auction at forced
sale, and Anthony Reybold bought it
in 1858 or 1889, paying about $4,000
for it, and in less than four months, it
is alleged, he realized net profit from
the peach crop on it Of upward of
$4,000, and during the two following
years made profit of upward of 500
600 more. This, of course, became
known, and soon nearly every land
owner who could beg or borrow money,
bought peach trees and commenced the
cultivation of that fruit The New
Jersey nurserymen found that they
were overstocked with young peach
trees, the Jersey land owners having
abandoned peach culture, and they
sought a market in Delaware and Mary
land for the sale of their young trees,
and in many cases, when they could not
sell the trees, arranged to furnish young
trees to land owners who were to plant
them upon their farms on shares. The
rich lands of St. George and Appoquini-
mink Hundreds, in New Castle county,
forced an almost unnatural growth of
the peach tree, and they were largely
planted there. Those who had planted
orchards between 1853 and 1858 reaped
fine harvest, but when in 1867 the
many thousand young trees just coming
into bearing began yielding so literally,
it was found there was some limit to
the demand for peaches, and soon it
was discovered that even the New York
market could be stuck" But this
did not seem to keep the land owners
from expecting to grow rich from peach
culture, and it required the immense
peach crop of last year to convince
the people of this Peninsula that there