Evening journal., 1900-07-12
MANY RESOURCES
Oh KENT COUNTY
Other Crops SuppIanting
Peaches Fine Wheat
Growing Section

Tolchester Beach, Md, July 9-The
agricultural resources Of Kent county
have never been properly appreciated.
How greatly varied they are has never
been fully understood. Too many
farmers follow precedents blindly until
they reach what might properly be
called the standstill rut, where prog
ress ends and profitable results are no
longer to be obtained. For years a large
proportion Of Kent county farmers
made peaches the principal crop of
their farms. Their orchard trees could
be counted by thousands. After a time
the bearing seasons became uncertain
and the crops had to compete with pro-
life yields grown in other sections.
Then many peach farmers ceased in a
degree to take the proper interest in
their extensive orchards and many or
chards commenced rapidly TO show the
result of neglect. Poor yields and in
ferlor fruit seemed to come together,
and Kent county peaches began to lose
prestige in the market. No doubt the
fact that for some years the prices of
fine peaches was so low that after
growers had paid for picking, hauling,
freight and commission they had COM
paratively nothing left had much to do
with the abandoning of many peach
farms. Kent county pears began to be-
come popular and the big pear orchards
of the county were written about before
the public realized that the pears had
virtually crowded the peaches out.
Pear blight, however, was a menace to
this new industry. With the advent of
the much-heralded Kieffer pear as a
blight-proof tree. there came a renewed
activity in putting out pear orchards.
Now it is claimed the Kieffer is badly
blighting this year. So it seems that
fruit growing of any kind requires
eternal vigilance of an expert order
The fact. that many farmers in Kent
county cut down their peach trees SO
as toutilize the lands for growing other
crops, as the yield even on healthy
vigorous trees had become very uncer-
tain and meager, was no great wonder
James H. Gale, who has a farm of 4OC
acres OF arabic land near here, cut
down 5000 peach trees last March. The
trees were sixteen years old and in
good condition, but had not borne any
fruit of consequence for the past six
or eight years. Mr.. Gale showed the
writer a couple of hundred trees thai
he did not have time to cut down. thai
are now loaded down with fne-sizeC
peaches. The old peach orchard ground
Is now planted in corn. which is show
Ing a dark green, indicative of vlgor
Mr. Gale is an enthusiastic farmer, ant
his crops are always OF high order
He takes pride in showing what Ken
county can produce. He has eight
acres in corn and 100 acres in wheat
One field, which he calls the "Shel
field, on which there is a wonderful
yield Of prolific wheat is an interestin,
one from the fact that the soil. whicl
averages only a little over a foot deem
is underlaid by over three feet of oys
ter shells. Mr.. Gale says that a goot
many years ago some professors exam
med the shells and concluded the In
dians had deposited them there. Nu
merous Indian relics. such as ston
hatchets arrOwheads and stone hide
cleaning implements, have been fOun
in the shell foundation of this field. MI
: Gale says good crops Of any kind gro,
. on the shell field" and that Il ha
never had any fertilizers. He SAYS som
years ago a state chemist analyzed tn
4 soil of this field and said it containe
so per cent. of lime and 20 per cent. q
vegetable matter. Mr.. Gales whea
yield, he says, is about thirty-nv
bushels per acre, and his average cor
yield is seventy-ive bushels pes acri
The wheat heads in his field wer
!, measured by the writer and many
= them were found to be six inches lOnl
2 Mr.. Gale was awarded a first prize O
= peaches at the Worlds Fair at Chlcag
Il on the "Wheatland peach" Mr.. Gci
still has a 1000 peach orchard le
which is loaded" with fruit. He col
cludes that as this is a year OF "unive
sal bearing" it will hardly pay him
N market the peaches. as prices whiC
d prevail in such seasons are very 10y
He drove around among some Of Il
farms joining his to show the writ
,s what fine wheat and corn crops the
are in general i'm the county He b
:, lieves that wheat and corn from Kei
,s viii soon have a great reputation. ri
- wheat fields are indeed numerous az
y large aud The many shocks demo
,r strated the generous yields. The h'
Al crop has just been harvested and ts ol
u Of the finest in quality for
IA number of years. The past ten da
m have been ideal for the HI
- crop and wheat II is very dry al
N dusty and farmers are now ready +
of the much-needed rain. The first shi
ne ment of peaches for the season W
in made from here last Monday, nul
her Of days earlier than any previo
season.