The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-04-18

Georgia, and it would still have left
two industries which would make her
raople rich and powerful, and build
nm and develop the country. I refer
10 The vast lodges of granite and the
recent introduction of the liberia
reach. BY uniting the vast agricul-
tural resources with her natural ad-
yantages and the peach industry it
is easy to predict that Ebert is destin-
al to become one of the garden spots
of the state and South, and the day
is not far distant when it will be
what nature designed, teeming hive
of industry.
For the past few years 1 had been
reading a great deal about the intro
duction of the Elberta peach in FL
bert county, but had not the most
remote idea of the growth of that
new industry, and the Importance it
had assumed as money crop. l had
known for many years that the coun-
~ boosted ineXhaustible quarries of
granite, but was not aware that in
the past few years those deposits were
SO extensively opened up and utilized,
and their enormous value.
The Granite Industry.
DR.. Long, and who is a leading spirit
in the granite business, tells me that
he is now shipping stone all over the
country even to California, on the
Pacific coast the freight on those ship
ments alone being $1425 per ton Here
are found inexhaustible deposits of
granite of every known hue and grade,
some of it almost like case-hardened
steel, and susceptible to the highest
nd ctn
in every shade of blue, and experts say
there is no such granite on the Amer
lean continent as is found in Ebert
county.
And this business, too, is now in it's
infancy Her hills of granite made of
barren Scotland one of the richest and
most prosperous sections of our globe,
and it is destined to do as much for Ell
bert county. When the Panama canal
is open to commerce | predict that eV
cry year thousands of tons of Ebert
county granite will be carried across
the Atlantic. Much of this stone splits
like chestnut rail, and the quarries
are so accessible as to be worked at
a minimum cost. Gilbert is known as
the Granite City, from the fact that
il is built upon a ledge of the finest
stone, and which can be quarried at
but little more than the cost of lum-
Der But the line of the Seaboard Air
Line Railway is dotted with newly
opened quarries, and this is only a be-
ginning of the end.
The EIberta Peach.
Having expressed a desire to investi-
gate the Elberta peach industry Hon.
L. H. o. Martin kindly volunteered to
carry me out to his hospitable home at
Middleton, and show me what they
were doing in that line Middleton is
-, the first
station east on the Seaboard. We had
scarcely lost sight of the city, when l
noticed great fields planted in young
peach scions, and the further we went
the number and acreage increased. The
sides and tops of every old red hill in
lower Ebert has been planted in
peaches, and still the work goes on. A
gentleman who is interested in this IN
dustry tells me that there are now be-
tween 1000 and 5000 acres in the coun-
ty planted in the Elbertas, and it is an
industry too, only two or three years
old. Lands that were considered worth
less now command good prices, for they
are found peculiarly suited and adapted
TO this crop. 1t seems that the red SOIL
of Ebert imparts a peculiarly hne
favor to the peach, and they command
in market a higher price than fruit
from any other section
The liberia peach originated in
Marshallville, Ga, but they arrive at
a greater degree of perfection in Ell
bert than anywhere else, so it is claim
ed.
After spending a night with Mr..
Martin we drove over to the farm of
Mr.. Eugene Heard, proprietor of Rose
Hill. To Mr.. Heard belongs the praise
of first introducing the alberta peach
into Ebert, and he made the bust
ness such a success that it is being
taken up by all of his neighbors. Mr..
Eugene Heard is a grandson of Gov.
Heard, and is a prosperous and model
farmer. He has one of the grandest
country homes l have ever visited, and
his brilliant and accomplished lady
has transformed it into an ideal spot.
The fine old mansion inherited from
his father, has been remodeled and
overhauled but without destroying or
marring the original designs. The resi-
dence crowns a gently sloping eleva-
ton, overlooking grounds covering
acres, and beautif1ed by and adorned
with every variety of tree and flower.
AS the name of the farm implies, it
Is a veritable Rose Hill, the grounds
being dotted with hundreds of varie-
ties of roses, all trained and brought
up to the highest state of the floral
art
The Heard Orchards.
But what was most interested in
was the Elberta peach, and Mr.. Heard
readily gave me all the information
IN his power. He stated he always
noticed, when fruit was killed every
where else, that there was an abundant
crop of peaches on this farm. So some
nrteen years ago he decided to en-
large his orchard, and hearing about
the alberta peace, gave it a test. He
had no idea them of growing fruit for
market, and it was only a few years
since that he began to ship. During
mat entire period, he has never miss
60 but one crop, and that was the
year when the freeze killed the Florida
orange trees.
Mr.. Heard showed me over his or
ehafds, and l never saw trees so heal
my and vigorous. He has them of
al ages, from his original trees,
set out some fifteen years ago, to twigs
pIahted the past winter. Mr.. Heard
says that with proper attention there
no telling how many years a peach
e ee can be made to profitably produce
IIN; Last year his old orchard net
t eu MIN about 1925 per acre, and the
ees snow no signs of decay When
Tree dies out he plants another in
rs prace, and so keeps his orchard
~. IN -FOUR years from the time an
UttCnard is set out it will begin to
'iu handsome return to the owner.
500 Profit Per Acre.
Wth proper care and attention, 800
49, pro1t per acre is a most reasonable