Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1918-11-01
SHENANDOAH ORCHARDS.

L
The correspondent of the Com- It
y Gentleman. after giving an ex- II
:ellent write-up of tile splendid +
of Mr.. Charles Bowman,
gives the result of all interview L
with Mr.. J. G. Gravely, of Wood
stock, Va.
There never was a more haz-
ardous game than growing
peaches-a little slip and the
crop may spoil even on the trees !;
some small hitch at harvest time
often means the total loss of the
crop. And while the Valley has
been sigually successful in hand
ling its peaches, | found one
grower who had hit upon
scheme that well-nigh made this
end of his venture disaster proof.
He is J. G. Gravely, a young
man who gave up his work as a.
travelling salesman and for the
past eight years has worked in
partnership with Judge F. S.
Tavenner in the management of
135-acre orchard of both peaches
aud apples.
Mr.. Gravely's earlier business
experience has served him in
good stead, particularly when it
comes TO buying supplies and
marketing crops to the best pos
sible advantage. His storage
houses | found we'll stocked with
peach crates that he bought last
year at time when the market
was low.
Seeming a rise in price, he
stocked up at low market and
carried over several thousand to
this year. The rise in the price
OF crates isn't worrying him at
all neither is the increased cost
OF apple barrels, for he followed
the same practice in blu yiug bar
rels. And in buying spraying
materials he always has one eye
on preseNt prices and another on
indications of their climbing.
| One year when late cold snap
threatened to wipe out his entire
peach crop, he hit upon the idea
of smudging up the temperature
of the orchard. II smudging
would save an apple crop, he
argued, why not peach crop ?
1t had never been tried in his
section, but that didn't stop him.
| And when all the peaches round
about were killed, he brought
through a 3S00-bushel crop from
ten acres after eight nights, OF
smudging.
| In going over his orchards
found hardly peaolltree showing
signs of borer trouble Mr..
lGravely has them wormed twice
| III the fall and and twice in the
Ispring. And during pruning
| time he makes every man dip his
Ishears and knife in a solution Of
carbolic acid before using them
on the next tree.
! These are just a few high
flights OH the care lie gives his
| paintings. They lead one TO ex-
pect of this type of orcllardist
marketing practices just as sue
cessful as the practices that III
sure the crops. For the past
| five years Mr.. Gravely has de-
veloped a peach market that has
reduced marketing hazards to the
lowest possible terms.
It began when lie looked about
to find market for peach culls
I-something that more than one
! man has sought in his expert
ences in growing this highly pei
isha BILE fruit. 1t was utterly out
of the question to ship them.
But right in Woodstock was
and still is branch house of one
of>the largest ice-cream manu-
facturers in the country. 1t oc-
Cured to Mr.. Gravely that this
concern ought to be in the mar
ket for Gull peaches to use as
crushed fruit in its finished pro-
duct. SO he made a dicker and
the first year sold between 3O0|
to 500 bushels of his culls, peel
ed, pitted and halved.
When lie began to develop this
market he hadn't the slightest
flea low to put the peaches in
this condition without tremen-
donS amount OF labor and con-
sequent reduction Of profit. At