The daily gazette., 1879-01-18
Letter from Samuel Townsend. .
ABOUT PEACHES.

For the Gazette.
To the persons interested in peach
growing and shipping peaches, owing to
the two or three mild winters lately pass
ed,our crops in Delaware have been light.
But as such winters as the present one,
kills the Northern peaches and give us
the better chances for crop, and almost
the entire market, North, East and West !;
for no doubt the peach crop in Michigan
Is not only killed but the trees also, if
the report of the Thermometer was cor
rectly stated at % degrees below zero.
Also in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois it was
too cold for peaches, for the peach cannot
stand over 3 to 5 deg ees below zero for
three days at a time would kill all Oh
this Peninsula. A few hours while in a
torpid state, before the buds swell, they
can stand six or eight degrees, but not
for over eight or ten hours, and then half
or two-lhlrds was killed in 1860, when it
sunk to s degrees on the Sth day Of Jan.
Therefore, as the prospect at present
looks fair, propose to said peach grow
ers aud peach shippers of Delaware, to
request the members of the House of the
State of Delaware, to grant us an after
noOn's use Of the House Of Representa-
tives to hear our grievances, and the
looking to more reasonable freight from
the railroads for the carrying of peaches
TO market. The rivalry of the Baltimore
and Ohio railroad, the Pennsylvania rail-
road and the New York Central railroad,
is so great that these said roads have
flooded our old grain markets so that we
cannot compete with the West in grain /;
onA I ha hAan told 1f,a1p Of
have been brought from Chicago to Bal
timore, Philadelphia and New York, for
$50 per car load, while these same rail-
road companies charge us peach growers
$3.50 to $500 for car load of peaches.
We wish to lay our grievances before the
Legislature, and ask our law making
powers to legislate in such manner as
TO do justice to this branch of Delaware
business. The p, w. & B. Rail-
road Company use as one of their argu-
ments that the State charges them
too much tax, and they have never been
prevented by our Legislatures, SO far,
from laying this whole excess of tax on
this one branch of Delaware business
the fruit business. This policy has been
submitted to too long already. But there
is no necessity of collecting so much tax
off the people of Delaware; therefore, l
am in favor, as one of the peach growers,
that the tax on the Delaware Railroad
in round numbers should be laid at
twenty thousand dollars per year, and
that the railroad reduce its freight on the
f uit business more on equality with other
freights. hold an offer now in writing
from tn. North Pennsylvania and Bound
Brook Railroad routes to take carloads
of 500 baskets of peaches from Noble
street wharf, Philadelphia, to Jersey City,
for thirty dollars per car load, and return
the empty baskets free of charge. All
growers and shippers should have their
empty baskets returned free, and each
shipper at time at station should be
allowed to put his name on at least two
cars on p urpose to bring back his empty
baskets in these said cars with his name
on, and all baskets not returned in these
cars the shipper could make the commits
sion men who sold for him pay for all
not returned. / am told that this same
North Pennsylvania, by lease from the
Reading roa-i, could take peaches from
Gray's Ferry, as is now done, and if the
Pennsylvania Railroad will not come
in her freight let the p, w. & b. X. K.
come down and pro rate with the North
Pennsylvania and Round Brook route,
which is fully as fast, and twice the room
for peaches at Jersey City. Now these
few outlines are what | propose, and the
meeting at Dover might be held on Tues
day, the 4th day of February, at l p. m.
which will give time to get through, and
that this meeting shall be peach grow,
ers' and shippers meeting, to lay oul
grievances in a firm, moderate manner
before the Legislature and ask them to
aid us in having justice done to us.
SAMUEL TOWNSEND.
/ Townsend, January II, 1879.