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104 FACTS ABOUT GEORGIA
chards, which can be found scattered throughout the whole state,
where they seem to thrive equally well. The time of maturing
varies with the section, beginning early in the South, and ending
later in the summer in Yonah Land, in the foot hills of the Blue
Ridge. Thirty years ago the largest peach orchard in the State
was forty acres, but to-day there are some individual orchards
having as many as 250,000 bearing trees, with their own railway
extensions and large packing-houses. It is estimated that there
are approximately eighteen million peach trees in the State. As
large new areas have been planted each year since 1905, a great
proportion of the orchards of the State have not yet come to
bearing.
The chief varieties of peaches grown in Georgia considered
from a commercial standpoint, are the Carman, Hiley, Belle,
Uneeda, Greensboro, and Elberta. The last is by far the most
famous and plentiful. It was originated by Samuel H. Rumph in
the early eighties, and is a cross between the Chinese Cling and
the Crawford Early. Mr. Rumph, who named the variety for his
wife, has spent his entire life in peach culture, and may be con
sidered the nestor of the industry in Georgia. His orchards are
in the heart of a distinctly peach district, and within a twelve-
HALE FEACH ORCHARD, FORT VALLEY—140,000 BEARING TREES