The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1903-08-06
A THOUSAND CARS
OF FRUIT A DAY
Millions of Melons Pass at
Hamlet.
FRUIT PRICES TIP TOP
Southern Pinss, Cameron, Hoffman and the Sand
Hill Region Have Short Fruit Crop but
Gross and Net Receipts FIX
coed Last Years.

Superintendent A. w. Towsley, of this
division of the Seaboard Air Line, has
been at Hamlet for the past two days per
sonally directing the heavy freight and
passenger movements, which are taxing
the capacity of the system. The fruit a,ld
melon season is at its zenith and during
the past twenty-four hours thirty eight
freight trains, composed OF 7S4 cars have
been handled in and out of Hamlet, be-
sides the hundreds of cars which have
been billed out from the Southern Fines
section and the melons from Hoffman
Never before has the situation been So
tense. Even on the branch lines this fruit
and vegetable crop has developed into
wonderful proportions. From midnight TO
midnight fifty-seven cars of melons were
received from points between Wilmington
and Hamlet For nine days the average
number of melon cars has been thirty
and the prospects are that there will be
about sixty cars a day for several days
to come from this same territory.
In addition to this from four TO seven
ears of melons are being shipped daily
hundred acres of waternelons This crop,
however, was cut short by the recent dry
spell and Hoffman Will need only one hur
dred and more cars to handle its melons.
Besides the melon crop from the sections
mentioned the peach, dewberry and grape
crops from Southern Pines. Manly, Vass.
Cameron and territory adjacent TO Lake
view have already required more than one
hundred cars and are now requiring more
than fifteen day. Thousands of crates
are hustled into the cars billed solid
through to Philadelphia, New York and
Boston. The prices are at the top and
though the crop is short, the quality is
such that grapes are bringing from $3.50
TO s2.75, while peaches continue up from
So 90 to $3.50; the former weighing from
tWenty-six TO twenty-seven pounds and
the latter from thirty -eight to forty
pounds to the crate Dewberries are bring
ing correspondingly high prices notwith-
standing the fact that the crop Is un-
usually bountiful.
The Van Lindley nurseries have already
shipped between 5000 and 100 crates OF
peaches; Capt. A. ID. McNair has shipped
more than coo crates of Delaware grapes;
the Niagara Grape and Fruit Company
has sent North more than $500 crates OF
Delawares and 1900 crates Of peaches be-
sides the product of twenty acres of dew
berries and the Pine Knot Farm Is ship
ping the product of sixty acres OF dewber-
ries.
From Cameron the dewberries from one
hundred fertile acres have required from
five TO seven cars daily to handle the heavy
crop. In every way the fruit season Is
satisfactory to the growers The high
price has made the gross and net receipts
exceed last years great record
The Niagara Grape and Fruit Company
has grubbed out seventy acres of old
Niagara grape vines and planted the fine
Alberta peaches and dewberries. The Del
aware grown here is the one successful
grape and has been proven to be the fines;
on the market furnished from any section.
AS to bloom, texture, aroma ana quality,
its general high color and sweetness, 1t Is
unequalled elsewhere.