268 FRUIT-GROWING 



if they are to be shipped without loss. In 

 this respect the Elberta excels all other sorts 

 for it can be gathered while still perfectly 

 hard and will ripen in transit. Often the hard 

 green peaches are gathered days or weeks 

 before they are ready to eat and are sent to 

 distant northern markets. Being large yellow 

 peaches, the buyers in the cities pay fancy 

 prices for them and, not being familar with 

 what a really good peach ought to be, they 

 think they are fine. The Elberta has become 

 so widely known that its name is almost 

 synonymous with "fine big yellow peach." If 

 I should send a shipment of Crawford, or 

 Fitzgerald or Kalamazoo to market to-mor- 

 row the chances are ten to one that they would 

 get to the consumers' hands under the name 

 of Elberta. The public wants Elberta peaches 

 and the commission dealers see that they get 

 them regardless of whether they were grown 

 on an Elberta tree or not. All of this of 

 course has helped the reputation of the 

 Elberta and many persons honestly believe 

 that it is the one best peach — though they will 

 admit that "sometimes they have purchased 

 baskets of them that were very poor." 



The Elberta is not quite so hardy as some 

 other sorts, but is fairly reliable in spite of 

 this tenderness. When permitted to do so it 

 will outyield all other sorts in the orchard. 



