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SERVICE
Ample Resources, Adequate
Equipment and broad well es
tablished connections make
this Bank's SER one
of MERIT.
We invite your business upon
the basis of STRENGTH,
CONSERVATISM! and
SAFETY.
Citizens Bank
of Fort Valley
FORT VALLEY, GEORGIA
Capital and Surplus $150,000.00
Seeking your continued patron¬
age and new business on our
record of service to this com¬
munity.
THE LEADER TRIBUNE
Marketing Georgia Peaches
By M. C. Gay, State Agent in Marketing
Georgia State College of Agriculture
Status of Industry—Peach growers in
Georgia and competing areas of other
states should understand the status of
the industry in order to be able to make
plans for marketing the crop, and to en¬
able them to develop the industry along
sane lines. Commercial production in
Georgia in 11*24 was conservatively es¬
timated at 22,000 cars, though only 13,403
cars moved to market because of un¬
favorable market conditions. It is true
that many peaches entered the channels
of trade that should never have been liar
vested because of their low quality and
that some excellent fruit remained un
harvested. Georgia growers must soon face
an increased acreage of bearing trees
equal to 38 per cent, of the 1924 volume.
Then this crop must compete with the
peaches produced in North Carolina and
South Carolina. It is true that the prin¬
cipal peach producing sections of Geor¬
gia are through marketing the crop before
the North Carolina crop is ready for
market.
Prom 1924 to 1927 the bearing trees in
South Carolina will increase from 100,000
to 700,000. In North Carolina the in¬
crease during the same period will be
from 300,000 bearing trees in 1924 to well
above 2,000,000 in 1927.
Some Trees Pulled Up—Following the
marketing season of 1924 there was some
agitation for pulling up trees. It is safe
to assume that very few, if any, young,
thrifty trees of the better varieties will
be pulled up before the 1925 crop is har¬
vested. There are some old orchards
which are being done away with because
the trees are too old to bear profitable
crops. Those in close touch with the
situation estimate that the annual cut out
of trees in Georgia will not exceed 100,000
trees during the next five years unless
abnormal conditions prevail.
Undesirable Varieties—Late in 1924 at
a meeting of peach growers a resolution
was adopted UTging that all of the early
varieties including Cneeda, Mayflower,
Victor, Bed Bird, Queen of Dixie, and
Arp Beauty be pulled up. It is estimated
that there are 1,310,300 trees of these un¬
desirable early varieties, not including
Belles, in the State. As a result the
markets get several hundred cars of early
peaches of inferior quality each year and
consequently the consuming public is
prejudiced against Georgia peaches be¬
fore the worthwhile varieties begin to
move, Plantings of these extra early
varieties have declined during recent
years.
The fact that occasionally one of those
early varieties makes money is liable to
mislead some growers. Early in the season
there is a demand for peaehes. So a small
volume of very poor peaches may find
a market at good prices. However, the
consuming public gets turned against
peaches by these inferior early varieties, varieties
and tho result is that the later
do not find a warm welcome on the mar
keta. 8o, after all, the early varieties
are certain money losers for the industry.
Some growers claim that there are en¬
tirely too many trees of the Belie. This
peach has excellent flavor, but it is not
highly colored. Hence it does not al
wavs sell very well. This variety also
get's in the way yellow of the varieties Hiley and and good the
Elberta, both
shippers.
If the Belle is not a good commercial
variety it should be eliminated as rapidly
as practicable. It is a good variety to
sell locally for canning.
Commercial Varieties — The following
table indicates rather accurately the pro¬
portion of the different varieties as they
have stood in the state as a whole during
the five-year period ending with 1924.
Per Cent.
Mayflower, Red Bird, Queen of Dixie 1.0
TIneeda .. 8.0
Early Rose 3.0
Carmen ... 10.0
Hiley ..... 25.0
Belle ..... 13.0
Elberta .. 40.0
100.0
New Plantings—During the years 1922
and 1923 about two million trees were
planted in the State. Taking the state as
a whole the new plantings were about as
follows:
Per Cent.
Early Carmen Rose .... S.tqt 6.5 V
...
Hiley ..... 29.1
Belle ..... 6.6
Elberta ... 54.8
100.0
Mention is made of the fact that the
Hale, a comparatively new peach, is grown
commercially on a very limited scale.
Consignments—During the early history
of the peach industry of the State, a great
many sales were made through consign¬
ments to market. This plan did not de¬
velop distribution to a large number of
markets. The bulk of the crop went to
the large markets. The result was that
markets were not developed to keep pace
with the increase in production.
Careful planning is necessary to make
consignment sales successful and then the
plan is hazardous enough. For instance, '
the producer should make tentative ar¬
rangements in advance with the receiver
before the car is loaded. Then imme¬
diately after loading is completed he
wires bis firm giving car number, number
and kind of package in car, variety and
grade of product, together with state¬
ment of approximate hour shipment will
roll.
Some consignments are made as above
indicated; but in the main, they are made
about, as follows: The grower loads his
car, looks around a while for track buy¬
ers. If no track buyer is available or if
prices offered are considered out of line,
he begins to make inquiry for names of
reliable commission firms. One result is
that be sends his car to one of the big
markets which is probably already over
supplied. If by good fortune, his prod¬
ucts find ready sale at a reasonable price,
he is happy. If on the other hand, the
shipment brings little more than freight,
or less than carrying charges, as many of
them do, then * i those middlemen are
thieves. • •
F. O. B. Sales—The Georgia Fruit Ex
change was organized in 1908. This or¬
ganization did not have complete control
of grade, pack, or sales. However, it did
exercise considerable influence for better
fruit. It also permitted and encouraged
selling f. o. b. shipping point For by growers
to professional distributors. peaches a long
time the demand for exceeded the
supply. So there was a fairly good mar¬
ket. Good peaches sold well almost every
year up to 1924.
Buyers Sometimes Lose—The practice
of selling f. o. b. got a severe set-back in
1919 when the cureulio and brown rot,
combined with unfavorable seasonal con¬
ditions, caused the crop to be of low mar¬
ket value. During this and some seasons
following a number of track buyers lost
heavily. Such experiences influenced track
buyers to stay away from the peach belt
in later years, particularly in 1924 when
there was a large crop.
The 1924 Crop—A condition prevailed
during the 1924 season that has never
before been experienced in connection
with the marketing of Georgia peaches,
There was an unusually heavy set of "
fruit and an inereased bearing acreage.
The early peaches were late because of a
late, cool spring. The late varieties, de¬
spite a late start, ripened almost normally
because of the very hot dry summer. The
result was the early and late varieties
overlapped and moved to market almost
together. During a three weeks period
over 10,000 cars were shipped.
Tho growers spent more money, time
and energy in 1924 than in any previous
year in their effort to produce a crop of
good quality. There was an extra heavy
set of fruit, so a thinning campaign is was
waged by the Exchange. Thinning thin- a
difficult and expensive process. The
jiing campaign of the Exchange did some
good, but the growers failed to respond
ns they should.
Increased Production — As already
(stated, Georgia shipped by freight 13,463
<cars of peaches in 1924, but the total crop
was well above twenty thousand cars.
f