New-York tribune., 1902-07-20
THE PEACH PRODUCT.
WHERE THE SUPPLY FOR CITY MAR
KETS COMES FROM-IRRIGATION
ADDS TO AREA.

Fruit dealers in this city say that at the present
time they obtain their peaches from almost every
part of the United States instead of certain parts.
which used to be called the peach belts" Peaches
from New gland the Southern States,
the Rocky Mountain States. where vast tracts have
been reclaimed cultivation by irrigation, and
from the orchards of California. The old peach
belts supposed to lie along the Atlantic
Coast. in New-Jersey. Delaware and Maryland, and
also in Michigan.
In speaking of the extension of the peach culture
TO the other States of the Union. large fruit
dealer of this city said:
"Orchardists at one time believed that the rigor-
Gus climate of New England and of other Northern
States would be death to peach trees. ana
that their product would be dwarfed compared
with the crops OF warmer regions to the south A
few men did not stop with such reasoning. how
ever and careful investigation discovered that
peaches could be successfully raised in certain
sheltered districts in the North. Peaches were ac-
cordingly planted on sheltered hiIlsides. where on
spring mornings the Thermometer would register
20 to 80 degrees higher than in the neighboring
valley.
1T was thus found that with the proper care
peaches could be raised in Rhode Island and Con-
necticut as luscious and marketable in the long
renowned peach belt. Many Of these orchardists
also the money that was made by the middle
men, and so they combined and opened up stores
of their own in the neighboring cities, where
peaches could be sold direct from the orchard to
the consumer.
Other men, who began to raise peaches in the
North, learned of the large stretches OF land in
Georgia and Alabama which could be purchased
for exceptionally low prices, and they undertook
to raise peaches where cotton had always before
been considered the only available crop. Land was
bought up in blocks of 1000 acres; railroads, which
spurs of adjacent trunk lines. were built
right into the orchards, and peaches were picked,
packed and shipped with success in refrigerator
washington Phiiadeiphia and New-York,
Peaches too ripe for transportation were dIied.
sulphur fumes preparatory to being laid on trays
The peaches which are raised in New
Mexico. Arizona and Colorado are unusually large,
arid lands Many thousands of acres have been
bsE 10 the py sheSs he aSs Of te to the
kets OF the East is that the fruit has to be picked
IN 0FagF @ e spped TO chicago an
other large cities OF the Middle West In hlgh
The California peach, like the Arizona peach.
cannot be shipped 10 New-York without being a
is that the peach is not so sweet as if picked
the market. The fruit is Of large size. de-
csna I Canned peaches on the other hand hold
their with those raised in any OF the forty five
fornia peach. when II is picked ripe, is that It IS
eeedingy sweet i has matpred IN me hot GsLi, AL
saccharine matter Of .he trunks sap, ,,-
The price Of peaches has dropped considerably
men able to make fortunes out OF the peach
even a. preSee S pTSe morn a for or @
Present methods Of handling a peach crop are
can be picked and presented 10 the consumer at a
far less cost now than hve or ten years ago FOR
All the fruit is carried TO the neighboring city in
trolley cars. side track has been built from the
eaPy Gisg mornng @ befose the days trao on the road
has begun my peaches are put aboard AS most
by the trolley line the peach crates and boxes
taken directly from the cars 10 the stores"