52 THE PEACHES OF NEW YORK 



We are told in Watson's Annals of Philadelphia ' that one of the 

 remarkable characteristics of Germantown, Pennsylvania, in 1700 was 

 that the whole of the main street, one mile in length, " was fronted with 

 blooming peach trees." 



An account of peaches in the Delaware region as late as the middle of 

 the Eighteenth Century shows that even then the peach Was regarded as 

 indigenous " like maize and tobacco." This quotation, too, is interesting 

 because it gives a glimpse of cultural methods, kinds, uses and danger from 

 frost. The author was a Swedish clergyman, a resident of the region for 

 some years. He writes: ^ 



" Peach trees stand within an enclosure by themselves; grow even in 

 the stoniest places without culture. The fruit is the most delicious that 

 the mouth can taste, and often allowable in fevers. One kind, called 

 clingstones, are considered the best; in these the stones are not loose from 

 the fruit as in the others. Many have peach orchards chiefly for the 

 purpose of feeding their swine, which are not allowed to run at large. They 

 first bloom, in March, the flowers coming out before the leaves, and are 

 often injiured by the frosts; they are ripe toward the close of August. This 

 fruit is regarded as indigenous, like maize and tobacco; for as far' as any 

 Indians have been seen in the interior of the country these plants are 

 found to extend." 



Pressed for space, we must conclude the discussion of early peach- 

 growing in this region by quoting an account of the industry as it existed 

 in 1750 when the Swedish naturalist, Kalm, visited the colonies and spent 

 some time in Pennsylvania and neighboring states. Writing of orchards 

 he says: ^ " Every countryman, even a common peasant, has commonly 

 an orchard near his house in which all sorts of fruit, such as peaches, apples, 

 pears, cherries, and others, are in plenty. The peaches were now almost 

 ripe. They are rare in Europe, particularly in Sweden, for in that country 

 hardly any people besides the rich taste them. But here every countryman 

 had an orchard full of peach trees, which were covered with such quantities 

 of fruit, that we could scarcely walk in the orchard, without treading on 

 those peaches which were fallen off; many of which were always left on the 

 ground, and only part of them was sold in town, and the rest was con- 

 sumed by the family and strangers; for every one that passed by, was at 

 liberty to go into the orchard, and to gather as many of them as he wanted. 

 Nay, this fine fruit was frequently given to the swine. 



' Watson Annals of Phila. i :^6. 1856. 



2 Acrelius, Israel The History of New Sweden, or the Settlements on the River Delaware. Stockholm, 

 1759- Translated from the Swedish by William M. Reynolds, D. D., Philadelphia, 1876, Vol. XI of the 

 Memoirs of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania 151, 152. 



•Kalm, Peter Travels into North America i-.-ji-^y 1770. 



