Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1916-01-20

cons, n ers is impractical as far as the
pea Oh Industry is concerned today in the
South. There may be development alorg
this line in years to come and there is a
limited amount of such marketing at
present. This is mostly between grow
ers and consumers of the same section Of
the state. Since most of the peaches
grown for market 60 to cities out of the
state, the scheme of marketing will
necessarily take in the middle men. They
are needed and needed badly by the
grower. They will necessarily have to
have profit or they cannot keep on do
ing business. The hope is that they will
so develop and organize their business so
as to give to the grower a fair profit and
to the consumers first-cass product at
reasonably low price. The grower
should not be interested in holding up
the consumer any more than chicken
grower should be interested in feeding
his hens sawdust. The more the con-
sumer eats the more the grower can pro-
duce. If he can make slight profit
from his efforts and continue to produce
the products, he can build up sound,
profitable business.
"From the standpoint of the theorist,
oyer-production is matter of lack of
distribution or under consumption. From
the standpoint of the grower overpr
duction takes place when the crop is too
large to bring to him profit. From the
growers practical standpoint, the fact
that there are many people who are not
eating peaches does not alter his belief
that there is an over production, if he is
not making money.
"Some of the men who have been
watching the peach industry in the South
for many years. as well as the present
day students, tell US that the peach
growers of this section are on the verge
of reproduction. What they really
mean is that with the orchards which are
now in bearing and the coming into bear
ing of the new paintings, there will be
produced more peaches than it has been
customary for the South to market in
single season. 1t seems to be true that
there will be produced more peaches in
the South during the next few years than
it will be possible to market unless there
is an increase in consumption and better
methods of distribution are found.
"There are not as many trees in bear
ing today as there were ten years ago.
In every industry there are periods of
great enthusiasm and the opposite. There
is tendency among US humans to be-
leve that what is always will be. If this
season was dry one and next season
should duplicate this season, then it
would be natural conclusion to say that
the seasons had changed. The same
would be true if they were wet for two
years hand running.
'If peaches have been very plentiful
for two or three years and prices have
not returned profits to the average grow
er, the tendency is to say that the peach
industry is no good and no one can make
any money at it. This leads to the dis
continuing of spraying, pruning and the
other essentials to successful orcharding,
or even to the cutting down of the trees.
On the other hand, if prices have been
good and profits have been made, the
tendency would be to exaggerate these
profits and there follows period of wild
planting by those new to the business
and increased paintings by those already
in it.
$50, it is fact of history that peaches
are planted with the expectation Of max
ing easy money. These paintings being
made during period of good returns
and then many of these trees are cut
down without having returned to the
growers penny of profit. At one time
there were in the state of Georgia 49,
00O, 900 peach trees in commercial orch
ards. The 1910 census gives the number
of bearing trees as 10000, 900. Many Of
these were in counties which are not
peach shipping counties. 1t has been
estimated that there are hardly more
than 100000 bearing trees in the state
that are being devoted to the market
production. Yet, Georgia is shipping as