6 Peach-Growing 



"In 1656 John Hammond wrote of an earlier period : ^ 



" * Orchards innumerable were planted and preserved ' (p. 9) 



and of his own time : 



"'The country is full of gallant orchards, and the fruit 

 generally more luscious and delightful than here. Witness tbe 

 peach and quince. The latter may be eaten raw savourily; 

 the former differs and as much exceeds ours as the best-relished 

 apple we have doth the crab, and of both most excellent and 

 comfortable drinks are made (p. 13). ' 



"To the effect that previous to 1683 peach trees were 

 growing thriftily in considerable numbers in other parts of 

 the country, there are statements by at least four persons, 

 Thomas Campanius, 1643-1648 ; ^ Louis Hennepin, 1679- 

 1682 ; 3 Mahlon Stacy, 1680 ; ^ and William Penn, 1683.^ 



" Campanius records finding peaches in three places along 

 the Delaware." 



The statements by Stacy are of special interest. W^riting 

 from New Jersey, he says, as quoted by Smith : 



1 "Leah and Rachel; or the Two Faithful Sisters, Virginia and 

 Maryland," by John Hammond. London, 1656. Reprinted in 

 Force's Historical Tracts. Vol. 3, Washington, D. C, 1844. 



2 "A Short Account of New Sweden" (in Swedish), Stockholm, 

 1702. Cf . a synopsis in Tr. Am. Philosophical Soc, Phila., 1816 ; 

 and a translation by Du Ponceau, Phila., 1834. 



^ Nouvelle decouverte d'un tres, grand pays, situe dans 1' Ame- 

 rique, entre le Nouveaux Mexique et la Mer Glaciale, etc. 

 Utrecht, 1697, p. 300 and elsewhere. 



^ "History of Pennsylvania in America, etc.," by Robert Proud. 

 Philadelphia, 1797, Vol. 1, p. 153; "History of New Jersey," by 

 John 0. Raum, p. 108. Stacy's letter was written from "Falls 

 of the Delaware," April 26, 1680, to his brother Revell and others 

 in England. 



* "History of the Peach in America," Loren Blodgett. The 

 Gardeners' Monthly. Philadelphia, 1882, p. 347 ; see also Proud's 

 "History of Pennsylvania in America," Vol. 1, p. 249. 



