The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1895-08-24
PEACH GROWERS HAPPY
Because of the High PriceS---Will
Be No Cheap Fruit This Year.
Advantages of the Present Method Of
Selling Over the Old Way-Farmer
Does Not Have to Bother About
the Distribution of the
Fruit.

'~-~'-'
doubtful if peaches ever sold for the prices
which they are now bringing on this Pen
insula. To make matters better for the
growers the men who want peaches now
send other men here to buy for them and
the growers do not have to run the risk of
shipping their fruit to commission mer.
chants. There were never as many peach
buyers on the Peninsula as there are now.
The competition between them is what is
keeping up the price, and it seems to be
the conclusion oe those who are familiar
with the matter that there will be no cheap
peaches this season. BY cheap peaches is
meant peaches selling in the city markets
at % cents basket or less.
There are various opinions expressed as
to what is causin. the high prices. The
most plausible one is that the crop in
Georgia has already been picked and dis
posed Of the California fruit is too far away
to enter into competition and lacks the
qualities of the Peninsula fruit, while the
crops in all of the peach districts except the
Peninsula are late and will not he in mar
ket for some time. This leaves the growers
an open market and the men who handle
peaches are taking advantage of it. The
peach buyer has also solved the question
which the growers for years tried to solve,
and that was to prevent gluts III the mar
kets.
When the growers shipped their own
peaches it frequently happened that most
Of them sent to one place. The consequence
was that peaches brought little and some
times growers lost money on the shipment
The system of selling direct to the buyers
saves this trouble. The buyer knows in the
morning or on the night before how many
peaches can be handled by the man for
whom he is buying and he is instructed to
buy that many and no more. This pro-
yidcs good distribution of the fruit and
each locality gets what it can sell and there
is no glut The advantage to the grower is
that he does not have to bother with the
SulpIlltnI VI lIt lull vi W ptsJ shS 'iSiSh'
on it. When he sells his fruit for dollar
a basket he gets the money for it and is
done with the matter. This also gives him
more time in viii h to attend to the pick
ing and the shipment OF his crop. The
shipment is not much, for it is merely III
haul the fruit to the station
On Saturday the peach market was aN
good as it ever was in this state At all of
the shipping stations there were plenty OF
peaches, vet despite this fact the pric, 5
were excellent and the average was 81 a
basket. The white fruit was not so much
in demand as the yellow, but poor white
fruit sold for 60 cents basket. The yell
low fruit sold at from 81 a basket to S1.2
In some rare cases the prices of yellow fruit
went to 81 80 a basket.
Every man who has peaches is now sell
ing and the peach sellers include all
classes, from the poorest farmers to the
richest one Among the peach seleis at
Milford, on Saturday, was Governor Wit
liam r. Watson. The governor sold hun
dreds of baskets of fruit from his farms.
When spoken to he was sitting upon
peach crate as happy and contented as it he
was in his Office at Dover. He said that he
had sold all of his fruit at the straight rate
of 81 a basket and considered that he had
done well. 1t seemed as if all OF the prom-
inent citizens Of the lower part OF the state
were busy on Saturday selling peaches.
There was one prominent man, however,
who was not. That was Wilbur II. Bur-
mite. formerly treasurer Of the State. When
spoken to in reference TO the crop, Mr.
season. lie ha- an orchard OF 5000 trees
but in the "ntir" orchard there is not one
basket of ptaclus. 1t seems, he said, that
all Of the peaches are between the railroad
and the bay so far as this State is con-
cerned. Why TINS should be 10 one seems
able to tell hut it is so. Across the rail
but on his side there is not peach to be
founl.
Few people outside of this State know
what it means to Delaware to have the
peach crop and to get the prices for it
which the growers are now receiving. 1t
is difficult to estimate the advantages, but
it is safe to say that the present crop will
give the lower part of the State boom
which is could not have otherwise received.
The farmers who have peaches will be in
better financial condition at the close of
this season than they have been for years,
and in this respect the present crop will
surpass the crop two years ago. which was
one of the largest in the history of the
State. 1t is true that the crop of two years
ago was three times as large as this one
will be- but this crop will bring more
money into the State on account of the
higher prices Persons who have made the
peach crop Il study say that it is safe to
estimate that 1,500, 600 baskets of peaches
have gone out of this Peninsula this sea-
son. The average price paid for them to
the grower has been 30 cents basket,
which would make S75O,000 which have
been brought into the Peninsula, so far
this season. In addition to this there have
bepn lorUa arpoupta maid fnr haolyat, a,J