THE STATE FARMER SECTION
PAGE FIVE
Spartanburg^
Land Fruit
^ South Cai'olina Hill County
Becomes Peach and Apple Co?iscious;
Now Prosperity's on the Increase
By A. B. Bryan
SPAKtANIU'Rd, a Palinmo Statt-
I'ounty of bi'atititiil lulls aiul tnoiin-
tains is rapi'llv bcroiniiij' a land ot
delicious fniits and adding to its beauty
as well as ti> its i^rosperity.
With more than .^(vt.(KK) peach trees
and around ,<o,(xh) apple trees under
lulruation and many other thousands in
prospeet, it is a matter of a few years
until the louiity’s Iruit irop, already an
inipf)itant s»»urce of eash. w ill be one of
tile higtiest taitors in the rounty’s eeo-
nuniic attairs.
Hotii the peach and the apple enter
prises arc largely the tine work of for
mer County Agent Ernest Carnes, in lus
effort to find suitable cash crops to sup
plement cotton. He was assisted by A. K.
Scliilletter, extension horticulturist, and
others.
This peach industry was he>:un com
mercially about i<)22. 7'he hills in the
upper areas of the comity are covered
w ith proilucing orchards.
New Section Developed
County Agent VV^ H. Stallworth es
timates that 3(H),(XX) to 4(x^,(xx) new
trees have been set this season, so there
will be between 5,(xh> and f),(XH) acres
of Spartatiburg peach land.
A new peach section is developing
around Woodruff, suppleimnting th
m
Top, a model peach packing
shod and storage house built
from plans furnished by the
extension marketing special
ist. Center, young apple or
chard, replacing cotton fields.
older peach area in the upper half of
the coMnty.
In lO.H- gif)\'Prs shipped 17s cars of
peaches and sold to trucks large quan
tities of early peaches and culls. ^1 he
value of the i')34 crop was estuiiated at
In K)3S. shipments were
cars and the crop value was annmd
^>275,00(1, taking no account of culls.
Intelligent and scientific orchard
management under guidance of extension
specialists has brought success to tlie
growers. All are members of the South
C'arolina IVach (Growers Association or
tlie special group at (ir'amling where
iiiarke*^' ig peaches and purchasing sup
plies j'le handh‘d cooperatively througli
1^ .VI. (iramling, one of the county’s
biggest peach gjowers.
Apple Venture Promising
In the upper reaches'of the county,
centering around Inman, are about i(X>
Lower, spraying apples
for control of bitter rot
and coddling moth.
f.'irmers v\ho fi\e or six years ago began
setting ajiple orchards which now total
30.0(H) trees, sonu- of which are begin
ning to bear, with encouraging pros
pects. riiese orchardists are organized in
the Spartanburg .Apple (Irowers Asso
ciation. Dr. n. II. Dodd, Inman, is
|)resiilent. 'I'Iicn plan tor a coopei'ative
packing p.lanr ar liun.in and a cold stor
age plant.
"ITie varieties of apples in these or-
cliards are chietK Delicious and Stay-
man VVin<‘sap, which coming early can
be marketed ahead o( ap|)les I rum other
ajiple grow ing sections. I liere Is big de
mand tor apphs locallv to trucks uhich
Kime (hrecr to the orchards.
Hie orchai'ds :ire well kept and witli
sintable soils and proper cultural prac
tices iiear early.
riie 400-tree orchard ot Claude Uish-
op at In.man at ti\e vears old bore a
good crop in i<)3S- The growers feel
that rhe\ have thus made another suc
cessful move toward crop di\ersilii ation.
Growers learn the
finer points of apple
culture in a group
demonstration.
Brown Rot Can Be Controlled
TJ R()VV\ rot, one of the most com-
mon and destructive peach diseases
in the C'arolinas, can be controlled ef
fectively and economically, asserts Dr.
i.uther Shaw, of North C\irolin;i State
C'ollege, providing the following instruc
tions are put into practice.
h'irst. destroy all mumrnifird tnn't in
the orchard, oti the trees and on the
ground, limn or bury where it will de
cay.
lyime-sulphur and wetable sulphur
make good sprays for prot(rting peach(‘s
during the growing season. Use I2V_>
pounds of dry-mi\ lime-sulphur to s<’
gallons of water, or three pounds of
wetable sulphin- to so gallons ot watei.
For ordinary conditions, three appli
cations of tlie spra\ are recommended.
I he first should be about four weeks
after blossom pet.ds have beei, sli/d.
Spray again four to six weeks later. 'I'he
third application should he about 10 da\s
before fruit is due to ripen.
Sulphur dust will Kintrol brown rot
almost as effectively. 'Fhe dusting sched
ule is the same ;is for spraying.
Spra\ ing peaches .011 the f.irui of Stire-
walt brothers at (Iranite l‘'alls, N. C.,
is pictured below, lliis orchard is seven
years old and in g(M)d bearing. I'lie onl\
fertiliwr used has been two poimds of
nitrate ot soda to the tree and broadcast
ing stable manure each yeai'. Lespede/.a
has been grow ti eai h y ear for soil im
proving.
J. J. Cudd's 100-
acre peach orchard,
one of the first de
veloped in Spartan
burg County.