" A GEORGIA PEACH:’ 
HOW IT IS PLANTED, PROTECTED, PICKED AND PACKED. 
[EDITORIAL correspondence.] 
A New Industry and Its Prospects. 
Part II. 
Last week we were told how this great peach or¬ 
chard was evolved from an old cotton plantation. This 
is the first year of bearing—all previous work has 
been preparatory. The matter of suitable varieties 
was a difficult problem to settle. The Hales, as most 
of us know, have a large peach orchard in Connecti¬ 
cut. They wanted a succession of varieties that 
would enable them to put first-class peaches on the 
market from July 15 to October 5, with as short a 
break as possible between the Northern and South¬ 
ern ends. The varieties selected for the Fort Valley 
orchards are Tillotson, Mountain Rose, Crawford, 
Tliurber, Elberta, Stump and Crosbey. There are 
60,000 trees of 
Elberta. 
“Why did 
you plant such 
a large propor¬ 
tion of Elber¬ 
ta ? ” I asked. 
“My object 
was to get as 
large and as 
fine eating 
peaches as 
could be. El¬ 
berta was a na¬ 
tive of this lo¬ 
cality, and was 
sure to do well. 
The Stump, 
Thurber,Moun¬ 
tain Rose, Lady 
Ingold and Til¬ 
lotson were all 
of excellent 
quality, and 
had been tested 
here,and, there¬ 
fore, selected. 
The Crosbey 
was entirely 
unknown in the 
South, but as 
spring frosts 
sometimes cut 
off the crop 
here, this vari¬ 
ety was more 
hardy than any other of which I knew, besides being 
the most delicious in quality of any of the yellow 
peaches, and these were the reasons for its planting. 
The aim has been to produce peaches of the highest 
quality, hence we rejected entirely all the extra early 
kinds of the Hale’s Early and Alexander type.” 
“ Would an earlier peach be desirable for shipping ? 
“ Yes, the earlier peaches are far the most profitable, 
and in the new Triumph, which is a yellow variety, 
which ripens freely to the pit, and in the Waddell, a 
delicious white variety of large size, both of which 
ripen as early as the Alexander, there is a wonderful 
promise of great profits at a season when there will 
be little or no competition.” 
“ What do you do for borers ?” 
“ Borers are not very troublesome. A wash of lime, 
carbolic acid and potash keeps most of them out, but 
twice a year we make an inspection of each tree in 
the orchard, and dig out where there are any signs of 
them. Small boys at 25 cents per day, do this work 
promptly and well.” 
“ To what diseases are peach trees subject here, 
and how are they treated ?” 
“ Thus far, we have not been troubled with diseases 
of any kind. The curculio is the only pest we have 
thus far, and we have discovered no way to handle it 
successfully, except the old process of jarring off on 
to sheets.” 
“ After this crop is marketed, what will be done to 
the orchard ; how will you fertilize and care for it?” 
“ Three rows of cow peas, three feet apart, will be 
planted between each two rows of trees; these peas will 
be cultivated two or three times when small, and then 
allowed to grow at will all over the ground. On the 
richest portion of the orchard, these will be cut for 
hay in September. The rest will be allowed to re¬ 
main on the ground through the winter, and be 
plowed under early in spring. The 200 or 300 hogs on 
the place will be turned into the orchard to fatten on 
the matured peas, and trample down the vines during 
November and December, and the pork will furnish 
food for the hands on the place, and upon neighboring 
plantations.” 
“ What instructions do you give your foreman in re¬ 
gard to pruning and heading the trees, etc. ?” 
“ I never give Superintendent Molumpliy any in¬ 
structions ; he was “ born in a peach tree,” or mighty 
near it at least, and we consult together, after which I 
leave him to use his own good judgment. Our plans 
for the coming season are to shear off all of the lower 
branches, which have been allowed to hang near the 
ground for this first crop, cut out all crowding 
branches from the center of the trees and shorten in 
the main central top next spring if we find that there 
is a very heavy crop promised, or no crop at all. While 
if there be but a very light, scattering crop in sight, 
we shall not do this heavy shortening in, but leave all 
the wood we can for the sake of the fruit crop.” 
“ What is the size of the army that goes marching 
against this orchard ? ” 
“ The whole working force in the orchard at the 
present time consists of from 450 to 525 people daily, 
about 85 horses and mules, 16 heavy covered spring 
wagons, on the prairie schooner plan, for transporta¬ 
tion of fruit from the shed to the railroad station, 
and 10 low-down spring wagons to haul the fruit from 
the orchard to the shed. I keep a horse and carriage 
in use from early morning until late at night, and 
both my superintendent and his assistant are on 
horseback all the time. The working force consists 
of about 175 colored men and 50 women as pickers, with 
a superintendent over each gang of 10 or 12 ; team¬ 
sters, “ water toters,” and general assistants to this 
gang make about 300 in the field. In the packing 
shed are about 175 white men and girls, and 30 to 40 
crate makers, basket labelers, and teamsters on the 
road make about 50. These, with timekeeper, pack¬ 
ing inspector, shipping clerks, stenographer, book¬ 
keeper and superintendent of transportation at the 
railroad station, round out the full number that pick, 
pack and ship 4,000 crates of peaches daily, each crate 
holding six baskets, containing on an average about 
35 peaches, or 
about 840,000 
that are lian- 
d1e d three 
times each 
day.” 
A group of 
some of the 
male workers is 
shown at Fig. 
191. At noon, 
they all gather 
in the stable 
yard. The barn 
shown at the 
back is the one 
in which the 
Hales spent 
their first Geor¬ 
gia winter. It 
is n o w called 
“Gospel Flats,” 
the upper story 
being fitted off 
in rooms where 
many of the 
helpers sleep. 
The log house 
at the right of 
the barn is an 
old plantation 
building, now 
used as a store, 
in which Mr. 
Hale’s little 
boy dickers 
with the hands, and sells innumerable watermelons, 
crackers, and boxes of fish. “ Peach time in Georgia” 
is a perfect picnic for the workers. They come from 
miles, and camp out anywhere under cover. While I 
was at the orchard, one man came in with a mule 
bringing his wife and daughter. They had driven 
over 30 miles for the chance to earn a little cash 
packing peaches. They were all quickly at work— 
including the mule. Dozens of negroes came walk¬ 
ing in squads after work, and several of them drive 
their own mules, even bringing feed in their wagons. 
It was wonderful how eager these people were to 
earn a little cash. We shall see more of this side of 
the matter later. 
The Picking of a Peach. 
Let us now try to follow one of these peaches from 
the time it is picked from the tree, till it starts for 
the Northern market behind a fast engine. As Mr. 
Hale has told us, about 300 persons are at work 
among the trees. When the photographer got his 
camera focused on “ Delaware Avenue,” he faced the 
THE WORKERS ON A GEORGIA PEACH FARM. NOON HOUR AT THE STABLE YARD. Fio. 191. 
