The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1900-10-04
jEoRGIA's BIG PEACH CROP.
I Has Displaced Melons as Money.
Maker for the Farmers of
That state.

hdhtr LOT the II arnlefS OF
That state.
The peach has crowded out the
watermelon as a money-maker for the
Georgia farmer. The Elberta. the
most luscious of the freestone
peaches, has dethroned the Kolb
Gem, the best Of shipping melons.
Five or six years ago the farmer in
the southwestern section of the state
depended upon the melon crop TO
supply him with ready cash before
the cotton came in. Many devoted
large acreage to melons and comfort
able livings We're made by these
crops alone. For several years the
railroads passing through what was
known as the watermelon belt put
on special trains to carry the prod
uct of the farms to the eastern and
western markets. Spur tracks were
run into the fields to facilitate the
handling of the crop, and there were
farmers in the state who thought
they had a sure source of income for
many years to come. Finally so many
dlNilS DlCiOhS lndl lHt DTlCe
dropped to a point where there was
no profit There came a time when
the fruit would not bring enough in
the markets away from home to pay
the freight and the commission of
the middleman who sold them. Two
seasons of this kind called a halt on
melon raising, and the Georgia farm
er looked for some other crop. He
wanted a money maker, and his
choice fell upon peaches. He had
heard of the big incomes of those
who raised this fruit in Delaware and
California, and he determined to make
the Georgia peach as well known as
those from any other. part of the
union. From that day the watermel-
on in Georgia was doomed as money
crop. Now most of the melons
shipped out of the south are from
Florida, and there are not many of
them even from that state says the
Chicago Inter Ocean.
The peach grower has been in his
glory during this year. The big
shipping season has been at its height
and trainload after trainload of
peaches have been rushed in iced cars
to Chicago, New York and other big
cities, where they find a ready mar
ket at handsome prices. Thousands
of men, women and children. both
white and black, have been employed
in the big orchards around Cuthbert.
Tjfton, Marshallville. Fort Valley and
other towns in southwest Georgia.
One planter alone employs about 900
hands, and there are many who hire
more than 100 each. 1t is necessary
to handle the crop rapidly and with
care. The season does not last long,
and after the fruit once begins to
ripen it has to be rushed to market
in hurry or it will be lost entirely
1t does not require a great deal
of work to raise peaches. The trees
are bought usually from IA nursery or
from some neighbor. who has a sup
ply of sprouts to sell, and are placed
in the red clay soil, where they stay
two or three years before bearing
Three-year-old trees give d fine crop.
In the meantime they are not in the
way of the cotton. A stand of cotton
can be raised in the growing peach
orchard, and the tilling of the soil
helps the trees and makes them
thrive. After they begin bearing the
trees are pruned carefully each sea-
son, and an orchard will bear with
out replanting for several seasons.
An orchard is not allowed to die out
when the fruit grower wishes to keep
it going. Young trees are planted
near the old ones. and by the time
those first planted get too old to be
profitable they are dug out to make
room for those already started. 1t is
a sort of endless chain of fruit trees.
The first peaches ready for market
are sufficiently ripe early in June or
late in May. These are of varieties
raised more because Of their early
maturity than for their quality. 1t is
not until July that the good peaches
mature, The picking season lasts
two or three weeks, and it is neces-
sary to work rapidly while it is on.
The fruit must be harvested and
marketed in very short time or the
profits are gone. The growers and
shippers are busy at all hours of the
day. and sometimes far into the
night.
Centipedes in the State House.