1234 PEACH 



not set in until the latter part of July or early August, 

 near the eud of the Peach shippiug season. Often, 

 however, they begin in June, and continue for 2 or 3 

 weeks and in the case of tlie season of 1900 it rained for 

 6 weeks right through th< miin pirt of the Peach har- 

 vest Hot sun betw fi 1 \hi nn 1 tl e pi ersl nuig- 

 giness of a warn 1 | II t I it lia 



fungus and br | I ng 



tree bprajmg I 111 list 



before the buds II 1 ] ! ice 



more when the fi I 1 I 1 I I \ 1 iv- 



mg an excess of Imie is i ra ti cd 1 ) a fe» an I holds 

 the rot in check to a considerable extent Besides the 

 sprats in the Hale orchaid if rot appears we go over 

 the fruiting trees every day or two and gather and burn 

 all fruit showing even the smallest speck of rot, and in 

 this way secure much more sound fruit than when 

 only the spraying is practiced. In amajority of orchards, 

 however, neither spraying nor picking the rot is prac- 

 ticed, and the loss of fruit is often from 50 to 80 per 

 cent of the entire crop. 



The first great crop of Georgia Peaches that made a 

 strong impress on all northern markets was in 1HS9, 

 when the F.Uierta varii'tv bv its lurge size, great licjiiitv 



be realized tliat there could be too much of even a good 

 thing. The rushing of a great volume of fruit, no mat- 

 ter how choice, into tlie markets in 2 or 3 weeks, before 

 they hnci li, . n "I-ih >l !i|."toat least a liberal supply of 

 good fniit I I ' i ii'^s mistake. To remedy "this 

 there h:i- ■ m ; i |.;ist four years a hunt after a 



good liiil, : i.r.cede the Elberta. as well as 



later on. f. l., l,,.i.... il. S.. tl>:it n-liiln i,ri..r t.. IS'li; ii,,,r.- 

 than 75 per ceut uf the phmi n, •- i. . ic - i 1 .11.. i :,i. -n .■■ 

 that time not more than r _ i 



have been planted. Thcf' i . . ■ i i 



ties, and a longer and luor. i-i-iimMi -. i...n ..i iti:ii 

 keting has been :i^vur< .1. A l-w Alcx:m<lt'rs are yi-r 

 planted and opiii tli. -. i^ni late in May. Triumph, 

 ripening a few il.n - liin. In- li.-rn largely planted: it 

 suffered most fn.in imI m ruin, and while of good size 

 and very fine quality, fnnn its "woolly" appearance and 

 early decay, it tliorouglily demoralized the early mar- 

 kets; and when the thousands upon thousands of Tri- 

 umph trees not yet in fruiting come into bearing a de- 



thatwill takesev.T il « , , i. - ,,. , ,,:, \;-.,.-], -,a~.,i, f.n- tl,.. 

 markets to recx . i '".!: ' .i '..ii...' \,.iii.im- 1.. -in 



to come along. K:.. . i.';. . i , . ..mini:' li> nnn.ti lii-l). I- 



has always been very pri.tital.lc. 



The little Tillotson, that mildews its foliage in the 

 North so as to be a general failure, comes to a perfec- 

 tion of tree and fmiLige in the South; the bright red 



PEACH 



littl.- Pca.li.s. seldom mon^ than an inch and a half in 

 dianni.i, ril,. -■,... .f ami i|..li..i..ii^. are really the first 

 exti-:i ' r. , ' . - ... ihnl til. . ir wav tl. market. Greens- 



bi.r an.l 111. l.> ..n.i Waddell afewdays 



hit. I I., lam,, an.l li.antitul early Peaches, 



that ail II. :ii„' i xKii-n cly iilaiitid. Carman, of extra 

 size and great b.:-auty, follows a little later; while St. 

 John, Mountain Rose. Thurber, Belle of Georgia, El- 

 berta and Stump, make up most of the rest of heavy 

 planting ; while Emma and Frances are being most 

 largely planted to close up the season from the 1st to 

 the 10th of August. Some Peaches of the Crawford 

 type are grown all through the South, but they do not 

 suci'eed as well as most others of the Persian strain, 



ami m.i f til.- Persians do as well in the far South as 



III. N.rtli riiiiia strains, to which Wad.i.-H, Tluirlar, 

 I',. II, an.l 1,11.. ria belong. The South lllilia P.-n.-lns, 

 1.. whiili 111.. I'....n-t.), Honey and Angel la-l.tnL.', suc- 

 ,..,.,1 l,..,t in II. .11, la ami close along the Gulf coast. 

 \Vliili. tluif III. I -. ..I il:,\..ris appreciated by some, 

 they are ii..t _. ' .: ,. iii al.le for market. 



In prepaiai - .. i ing the fruit crop, many of 



thi- lar^'i- ..I. Ill 1.1- l,a^ . ill 1 11. ad side-tracks lunning to 

 tli.ir (.a.-Uing In.uscs in tlie orchard; refrigerator cars 

 at. l.i..iii;lit South, and every available bit of side-track 

 f.r till., or four hundred miles about is filled with 

 th.v. ,ais. At leading centers, refrigerator car people 

 l,a\.. ,.,n-tni,'t..(l great ice storage houses, with every 

 ...nv ,111,11.. I.. I .|uirk!y icing and re-icing cars. Agents 

 ..I 111, -. 1. IriL', raii.r car companies, by frequently driv- 

 iiiL.' ,ii...iii am. .11- the orchards and keeping in touch 

 with 11. II ir 1-. r-. plan to have enough cars iced up 

 an.l ' 1- to be ready for each day's demand, 



ami . n ..rder with the railroad agent the 



niul, 1 .iihardist may have one or a dczen 



r..tii_;. iii.i- .,1- .l.-Iivered on his side-track in the 

 morning. K.ir smaller shippers, who cannot load in car 

 lots, the railroads keep at all times in season refrigera- 

 tor cars on siding at each station in the Peach district, 

 into wliicli any number of shippeis may load ; more 

 often til. f.. will 1... a niiiiil,..r of Such cars loading at the 

 sani.. tun. . -.. iliat a -lii|.|,. r may have a choice as to 

 wlii.li n,ark,t 11. «iil ,,,n-iL'Ti his fruit. Except in the 

 heiiilit ..t til. -I a-, .11, til. s,. .-ars are often two and some- 

 tiiii. ~ I ill,,. ,la>- ill loading, and the continued opening 

 of til. . ir t.. i.iit ill small lots of fruit prevents perfect 



nfrii;. I.. ; . ..iiscquently fruit from small .shippers 



nior. .,11,1, u.., - t,. market in bad order than from the 

 laii:. r .,1. liaiiN, «lii-re a car can be quickly loaded and 

 at .,ti, , ,-1,.-, ,1 u|., not to be opened until ready for sale 

 in -..III, ti..itliiiii market. In the Hale orchards a car 

 1- ..II, n |..,,,1. .1 in an hour, and very little of the fruit 

 i- ... ,.r -,. l.,tig as two hours ].iissiiig fu.m the tree 

 tlirongh tlie assorting and j.a, Im- l.ii-. - t.. the car. 



For ten successive mornings, 1 il. re were 



picked, graded and nailed up i i i tl,c doors 



closed and sealed up, three car i. .:,.;- i.. i. i. , i-hto'clock 

 in the morning; seven o'clock ami liH.\-l..iu- minutes 

 was the latest, and seven thirty-hve the earliest finish. 

 Only by a lively start at daylight can such work be ac- 

 complished. 



In some of the smaller orchards, fruit is packed in 



1 ii. - I l.askets right under the trees, and then hauled 



a-ons, often without springs, to the railroad 



In .ilhers, some of the old farm buildings are 



n-.l I- j. a. -king houses; more often special IniiT In.u.ses 



of the orchards, Willi, in st\l. ami ..i i.- 



depends upon the int. 111-. t f th. i i.i. i.l 



desire to handle the fruit fa). iilh in l,..-i |...--i,.i. nan- 



ner. The picking baske 



low, round basket, wit 



about a half-bushel. With good refrigerato 



prompt railroad service, fruit is now allowed to come 



f.. full maturity on the tree, and is picked just before it 



l„.L-iiis to soften. 



Ill III. 1 1 ale orchard expert pickers instruct all new 

 w iL. I- how to judge by the color on the shady side 

 of a r.a.-li. when it is ripe for the harvest; then 

 each picking gang is in charge of a f,.r. man, win. is 

 ever on the alert to .secure uniformit\ in tin \\.,rk. 

 Each picker is numbered, and has a litil. .ativas 

 bag with his number stenciled on it. ami tilli.l with 



