The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1913-07-22
A Delightful Gathering.

A Delightful Gathering.
The beautiful home of Granville W.
Leeds, near Rancocas, was the scene of a
merry gathering on Wednesday. when
over 1000 persons were present to discuss
subjects connected with horticulture, and
to enjoy the delightful surroundings of the
Leeds home which is beautifully located
on the Rancocas creek.
The meeting was under the auspices of
the State Horticultural Society In the
morning Joseph Barton. of Marlton, pre-
sided over an outdoor meeting at which
addresses were made, the first being by
Orlando Harrison, of Berlin, Md, a very
successful fruit grower He talked on the
low prices that farmers and fruit pro-
ducers receive for their apples and peaches
and claimed the fault was because of an
overplanting without good results In the
way of overproduction of good fruit.
Senator Gaunt, of Gloucester county,
who is master of the State Grange, thought
a new horticultural building on the
campus Of the State Agricultural College,
at New Brunswick, would bring excellent
results and we'll repay the outlay of money
that would be necessary to build 1t. If
such an establishment were put up In this
state 1t would not be necessary for our
young men to go to colleges In other
states to secure an education on subjects
~ hioh oould he iuot q O oootlu daolt xr,ith a =
home.
NJ. A. Blake, horticulturist of the State
College, spoke mainly on the variety of
peaches which, in his judgment, were
best suited to this state, and he warmly
concurred In the idea of Senator Gaunt
with regard to horticultural college.
Milo Williams, an irrigation engineer of
the Department of Agriculture at Wash
ington, explained the irrigation system
now In operation on the farm of Mr..
Leeds. This plant was put in year or
two ago and has proved to be very salts
factory. Mr.. Leeds has nine acres under
the overhead system and peach orchard
of 10 acres is connected with the surface
method. Mr.. Williams said that there
were two elements necessary to make the
irrigation system a success. One was the
farmer himself, the other was the manage
ment of the affair. Unless there was a
crop to irrigate there was no need of GO
ing to the expense of putting In plant
but once having it established 1t must not
be expected to do all the work. Both of
the suggestions of Mr.. Williams as to the
farmer and the management appear to be
faithfully looked after at the Leeds farm.
Mr.. Williams talked at length on irriga-
ton. He recommended the overhead sys.
tenn for plants and the surface system for
orchards. He said that Mr.. Leeds made
an agreement with the Department of
| Agriculture to supply all the materials,
labor and land and the government fur
nished the designs and engineers and
supervised the installation of the systems.
At the start nine acres were provided
with that method at a cost of 81, 500, and
then the pipes and main were extended to
the 19-aere peach orchard, the extension
costing 5000
! In all Is acres were put under the most
modern method Of irrigation at total ex-
pense of So. 400. He observed that the
surface system is cheaper and should be
given careful consideration. because the
first cost of installation is always the
greatest burden to the farmer.
1
| A practical demonstration of the irri.
cation plant was given, the water being
turned on and the different angles at which
1t can be distributed was shown. This ex-
hibition was thoroughly enjoyed by q
crowd that lined the road along which the
plant is situated The spray pipes are sc
feet apart and are adjusted to cover the
piled by a two-cycle, twenty four-hor
power gasoline engine, which drives the
pump at the rate of three hundred gallon:
a minute. The engine is operated only
when irrigation is required.
: At the conclusion of this demonstration
1t was about time to discuss lunch, anG
. the large crowd was well taken care of
There was an abundance of sandwiches
, coffee and other Refreshments. An ic'
cream dealer did thriving business. TIL,
! large field adjoining Mr.. Leeds residenc,
} was lined with automobiles and there wa
an air of thrift and prosperity that did on
] good to observe.
After lunch the visitors wandered
around the place at their pleasure. Thos
who cared to remain at the house wer
entertained with music on a Victrola
while others gathered in groups and dis
4 cussed any subject that presented Itself
), There were many men of many minds,
l and it was not only interesting. but some
! what amusing to go around among tn
q various groups and hear the differen
ideas entertained by the takers on tn
same question.
There were some things on which a
were agreed. Nobody disputed the fac
Granville W Leeds has one of the fines
farms in Burlington county If not In tb
the state and that he and his family ar
very hospitsble people. Another poin
8 conceded was that more representativ
e set of people never assembled than tina
= present on Thursday. People were pres
ent from all parts of this state and froI
other states. Some of them had neve
y visited the place before and 1t Is certai
s they left with a very favorable impressio
q of what may be accomplished with atter
ton and up-to-date methods.