The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1911-10-21
's:sg's: '', y, ,' ;s.7 1nsse,

I -
while Thought 5to ,be SO uproductiye
tthat youyeouldn'ttraIse d disturbance
on iitgass thee lotal yernacuIaf hath It,
under3the ivenssf' ofSchert,"' however.
lies a bed oflhunus,. accumulated from
the debris Of Tie centuries. Sand this
furnishes the crop potentIality. while
1.-THE harder surface prevents at once
1.-THE too ready evaporation of the mols.
lture andithe Washing Of the soil. #
The valleys; overlooked Shy these
Ihills were settled before the birth of
the republic, .andfhaye richly jrepaiu
proper cultivation for a century and
Ia:half. .,Thefst ias selsewhere. each
farm had sis tfchard ssdf peach and 'ap
pleStrees; ths ptrnef OF which usually
bore fundamentally for "a few sea.
sons ndstheudl Getaway. The house:
wives dried, Santled land preserved
|whatsthey isaatsd bti The fruit, and the
1!remsindsri. Efssnasto those who
came and asked or fell to the hogs.
None, In the old days, eyerpthought
ofl.itaass a,icommerciale quantity. ii
IsfiIsdo mot Iknowithe accurate genesis
OF the commercial 5peaeh business Of
Eastern s;West s'lVirginia, $or through
what ntalstcircumstance Pit was
discovered lthatifthef neglected smoun.
tainFtops of Hampshire. Hardy, Grant
and Mineral counties wererldeal foS
the !cultureg,oi ';this most luscious
fruit, 4but athe discovery was made
some is or 20iyears ago, since which
thousands yof formerly Runprodudtlve
acres shave been set with. millions lof
trees and aasEreat industry built up
that brings hundreds Of; thousands Of
dollars annually into each OF these
counties. Hampshire county islands
lattthe head! ofnthe list In peach pro,
duction;s and rRomney, Its icounty.seat.
isythe 4pointtoidohief concentration. III
Cthetshippingi season.5 Here sthe dfruit
tissgathered and sent loutSby the train.
tload, that delivered at .carside one day
being In: the markets Of Washington,
Baltimore, Philadelphlaian and Newly rk
the next. The, advantage which mar
ket propInquity gives these orchards
Is readily ,apparentst to those who con;
slider the natter !, The peach, to bent
It's best rnustirfpen on the, tree, and
i after 1t becomes ifullsiripe 1t rapidly
deterIofates from ;elther time or: ship.
ment Eand Sihapdllgg. This advantage
Ilands expression III 10 few ceuts8peI
1ibasket advance ns:prloe oyertrlvals
that arrive over the long haul, and "a
few cents extra per basket make "a
lime profit in the peach business, AZ,
I,uThe profits from these 4 orchards
lare immense; running from 20sto 40
per cent, las n usual Sthinga and as high
asy120 percent. fill one well.authenti'
Gated case, while 5inSanother instance
a dividend ,of 211o5per cent. was de,
clared inione year, Think Of am In
| yestment that Yields back purchase
price, mailftenance3 aud 7marketingsall
lnione yearSaid 'leavss the property In
goodHcondltRn:iior future years. g One
thing aboutfl!these orchards is that
There are mo crop failures. 4 TheyAlie
,Eabovet the frost lime, tand properly
Icaredlfor wlllsyielf aIprofIt each year.
The peach 1treesff are of5quick3 growth
andjshort !ItsSs land In many INSTANCES
the orchardists alternate them with
apple trees, (which s.reaohIf maturity
nbout5the atimea the3peach trees give
OUTS; y !. 1
But to ireturnto The land show The
biggest part 1.-THE. West Virginia texi
,hibit, sand,i indeed. S the biggest thing
ini;the whole afrais, Is the exhibit Of
apples made byf that State. The DIFF
ferentlivarieties OFT apples, with Sttei,
irichscoloringss make aSyerysshoWytex
Ihibit with5yery little 'shahdling,''a and
those from iWestly Irginiasc could easily
besworkedlinto a mosaic oflgreat beau
ltySfF hlnk:.whats artist fingers cohip
doswlth aGrlmes fGoldens. Shading
fromS almost white ITO a4rlchayellowi
ItNorthwesterng Greeningsss in all the
tints Sof. green 81 Black PyTwigs. with
palesti greansiandzr eds that 90 ,almbsl
4 toshlatArfttAs lsaflSss Blacks that are
4 lnsreaiit lBlah u, 2bht deep red and
freddIshTpnrpls5 Fork impertals; ''run
Thing from scarlet through pink L
green; aGald wlns,1gs pink and green;