Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1877-09-14
Whole Number 1445

even now none but the late vari-
etles thrive and do well III that
State
immense Profits during the War.
After several years, during which
time peach culture was but of small
importance, the success of the
Messrs. Vandegrift on small farms
on the south side of St. Augustine
creek-a small stream emptying in.
to the Delaware river at a point
about FIVE miles below Delaware
City-in producing a succession of
good crops attracted the attention
of the neighboring land owners, and
soon nearly every land owner in st.
Georges Hundred planted more or
less largely with peaches. From
small orchard of not exceeding two
thousand trees Mr.. NJ. Vandegrift
sold during the seasons of I86l-62
63 "a and '65 upwards of two
Thousand baskets annually, at prices
ranging from three dollars down to
one dollar and a half per basket,
and he realized profit of upwards
of twenty thousand dollars for the
sale of peaches from this small or
chard. His success demonstrated
the fact that at least lands upon
which peach trees had not already
been grown could be generally re-
lied upon to produce peaches
One farmer made in 1868, clear
or all expenses, sixteen hundred dol
lars from four acres of land. An
other man, laborer, who by thrift
contrived to purchase a little place
of ten acres, for which he paid, for
house and land about six hundred
dollars, planted the land in peaches
and gathered from it upwards of
two thousand dollars annually for
several years. Men who had been
Indifferent farmers engaged in
peach culture and grew suddenly
rich. The brilliant success of diff
ferent peach growers created in the
minds of the Delaware and Mary
land land owners the impression that
peaches would, prove for many years
to be a most profitable crop, and as
a result every section of the penin-
sula, which comprises Delaware,
the Eastern shore of Maryland and
of Virginia, is more or less inter-
ested in the cultivation of peaches,
and it NAV be safely calculated that
there are now growing on that pc
ninsula upwards of six millions of
peach trees. The result of plant
ing this immense number of peach
trees has been most disastrous, and
very many farmers have been finan-
cially ruined by it.
But very few of the many thous-
ands who luxuriate in the luscious
peach have anything like a proper
conception of the amount of labor
and capital required to grow
peaches. Young peach orchards are
cultivated as thoroughly as corn
fields by the successful growers.
In fact, the orchards are planted By
the Delaware and Maryland farmers
with corn and receive the same cul-
tivation for two years. The third
year three rows of corn are some
times planted between the rows of
peaches, which are usually twenty
feet apart. but after the orchards
come into bearing no other crop can
be grown upon the ground. Yet as
long as the orchard lives it requires
cultivation and fertilizing.
In Delaware and Maryland.
there are upwards of sixty thousand
acres of land under peach trees.
This land is the best on the peninsu-
Ia, and estimated to be worth fifty
dollars per acre or So, 100000. To
ship this fruit requires two millions
of baskets, or nearly that many,
which costs $25O,OOO. The money
invested in necessary impliments for
culLivating and shipping these
peaches to market is estimated at
ten dollars for every one hundred
trees, or $6OO,O The cultivation
of peach orchards and the picking
of the fruit gives employment to up
wards of twenty-five thousand labor
ers. The growing 20 maturity of
peach orchard requires the expendi-
ture of at least thirty dollars per
acre, or upwards of $1,8OO,OOO on
the orchards of Delaware and Mary
land. Nearly six millions of dollars
of capital are now invested by these
growers in peach culture. Among
the heavy consumers Of peaches dur
ing the season are the Gamers. This
industry uses annually maRsy thou
sand baskets of choice fruit. In
Baltimore the Gamers are the princi-
pal BUYERS in the market; but, after
all, the great bulk of peaches are
eaten from the hard; and in past sea-
sons it has been found that, however
great the supply Of good peaches
was, there was aiWsys demand
enough for them to effect sales at
some price or other, of ali that were
offered on the market. And il has
been ouly the poor and worthless
fruit which has been thrown away.
Philadelphia Times.
A schoolmistress in a suburban
town. who had long been annoyed