50 THE PEACHES OF NEW YORK 



Let the foregoing accounts of Smith, Bruce and Beverly suffice to give 

 status to early peach -growing in Virginia. They apply equally well to 

 Maryland, these neighboring colonies, it will be remembered, being called 

 by one of our authors, " Leah and Rachel or the Two Fruitful Sisters." 

 Of the peach in the states to the south at least a few words ought to be 

 said. 



In the discussion of Indian peaches we have had a good account of the 

 early history of the peach in the Carolinas by Lawson. We now show the 

 status of peach-growing in this region at a later period. In an accoimt 

 of South Carolina and Georgia, said to have been written by General 

 Oglethorpe, printed in London in 1733,, we find the following: ^ 



" Mulberries, both black and white, are natives of this soil, and are 

 found in the woods, as are many other sorts of fruit trees of excellent kinds, 

 and the growth of them is surprisingly swift; for a peach, apricot, or 

 nectarine tree will, from the stone, grow to be a bearing tree in four or five 

 years' time. 



" They have oranges, lemons, apples and pears, besides the peach 

 and apricot mentioned before. Some of these are so delicious that whoever 

 tastes them will despise the insipid, watery taste of those we have in 

 England; and yet such is the plenty of them that they are given to the hogs 

 in great quantities." 



A little later, 1740, Mr. Thomas Jones of Savannah wrote to Mr. John 

 Lyde concerning the contents of his town-garden as follows: ^ 



"As to our fruit, the most common are peaches and nectarines (I 

 believe that I had a hundred bushels of the former this year in my little 

 garden in town) ; we have also apples of divers sorts, chincopin nuts, walnut, 

 chestnut, hickory, and ground nuts." 



The third writer is Sir John Oldmixon who quotes a Mr. Archdale 

 in regard to the fruits of Carolina. He writes : ' ^ 



" Everything generally grows there that will grow in any part of 

 Europe, there being already many sorts of fruits, as apples, pears, apricots, 

 nectarines, etc. They that once taste of them will despise the watery, 

 washy taste of those in England. There's such plenty of them that they 

 are given to the hogs. In four or five years they come from a stone to be 

 bearing trees." 



The same author is worth quoting in regard to the early culture of the 



• A New and Accurate Account of the Provinces of South Carolina and Georgia. Reprinted in Collections 

 of the Georgia Historical Society 1 150-5 1 . 1840. 



' An Impartial Inquiry into the State and Utility of the Province of Georgia. Reprinted in Collections 

 of the Georgia H storical Society 1:199. 1840. 



' Oldmixon, ]ohn The British Empire in America 2nd Ed. 1:515. 1741. 



