132 THE PEACHES OF NEW YORK 



there are less than twenty-five trees each; in twenty-two counties there 

 are fewer than five hundred trees or less than five acres in any one; of the 

 sixty-one counties in the State, only twenty-four average more than one 

 hundred acres planted to peaches and but six have more than a thousand 

 acres. There are still, however, acres beyond calculation, fecund for 

 peaches, many lying fallow, upon which peaches can be grown when the 

 markets warrant. 



The acreage for the State and its peach-regions may be determined, 

 approximately, by dividing the number of trees by 100. In 1909 there were 

 2,457,187 bearing trees and 2,216,907 trees not of bearing age, a total of 

 4,674,094 trees covering 46,740 acres in the State. At this writing, 1916, 

 the acreage is larger. In 1909, along the Ontario Shore there were 12,715 

 acres planted to bearing peaches; in the Hudson Valley, 6,796; about the 

 Finger Lakes, 3,221 ; on Long Island, 343; on the shores of Lake Erie, 433. 

 These figures for districts cover bearing trees only, but holding the pro- 

 portion the same for the districts as for the State, the total acreage for each 

 district should be doubled for 1909 and, we are sure, much more than 

 doubled for 19 16. The statement that the number of bearing trees has 

 doubled in the past five years is supported by figures furnished me by 

 F. S. Welsh,' Agriculturist of the New York Central Railroad Company. 

 The New York Central handles at least 95 per centum of tlie peaches grown 

 in New York and shipped to the markets; in 1910 this railroad handled 

 1,341 carloads of peaches, 4,419 carloads in 1915. 



New York ranks third among the states of the Union in the production 

 of peaches, the value of the crop being but a little less than that of Georgia 

 though only about half as much as that of California. The number of 

 bearing trees and the yield in bushels of fruit are given in the census report 

 of 1 910 so that the average production per bearing tree in the several peach- 

 belts of the country may be computed, throwing light on the condition of 

 the orchards in the different regions. California leads with an average 

 production of 37.8 quarts per tree; New York follows with 22.6 quarts; 

 after which comes Michigan with 18.5; Pennsylvania, 13.7; New Jersey, 

 1 1.6; Ohio, 10.5; Georgia, 7.7; and Delaware, which must have had an off 

 year in 1909, bvit 5 quarts. 



Perhaps it is worth while putting on record an opinion as to the status 

 of peach-growing in the State at present, 1916 The acreage is certainly 

 the greatest yet planted in the State — as has been said nearly or quite 



Welsh, F. S. Letter June 9, 1916. 



