Will, Just reading your descriptions make my mouth water. There is nothing better than a ture "tree ripened" peach. Regards, Steve On Sat, 15 Jul 2000 15:27:57 EDT "William A. Mills" <[email protected]> writes: > Houston County Researchers: > > Mid-Summer is probably one of the most enjoyable times of the year > in > Central Georgia. The weather is like an oven, but the peach trees > are > producing an abundance of scrumptious delicacies. Houston, Peach > and > other surrounding Georgia counties, are in full swing with their > peach > production equipment now. Personally, I have 7 peach trees in my > backyard, which are in their second year of production. For some > reason, > our peaches are sweeter than ever this year. Regardless of how many > I > pick, they sure don't last long around here :-) > > Last year, I discovered an old ledger from the late 1800s and early > 1900s, that gave a detailed listing of the early peach orchards of > Houston Co., GA. The listing is massive, and one day, I intend to > transcribe the data. I've seen detailed accounts in some of the > Deed > Books of the same era, which describe large groups of land owners > giving > the rights to use the water (streams, etc.) on their property, for > the > benefit of the peach packing industry. > > Prior to, and up to 1924, when a huge portion of western Houston > Co., GA > was to become the new Peach Co., GA, the massive peach industry was > one > of the main reasons for the separation. The Fort Valley and Byron > area > has been prime territory for the peach business for well over 100 > years. > The fortunes which were made as a result of this, is utterly > amazing. > > Around 1920, Fort Valley, GA hosted a Peach Festival which was > unlike any > the country had ever seen before. And, they invited folks from all > over > to come and eat BBQ, be entertained, and *observe* their peach > orchard > productions. However, once the attendees found out that *they* > could > also duplicate what they saw in Peach County, they started their > *own* > peach production enterprises. From that point, the monopoly on the > peach > production business spread out from this area. > > This is not to say that the peach industry is not still massive > around > Central Georgia, as it certainly is. A few years back, Marilyn N. > Windham of Fort Valley, GA, wrote an excellent book describing the > early > Peach Festival and the industry that was behind the fortunes made. > For > anyone who has roots in this area, I consider this to be "required > reading". > > The Elberta peach and several other varieties were developed in this > area > of Georgia. Some, directly from peach pits, I believe. I've had > experts > tell me that you can't plant a peach pit and expect any sort of > quality > fruit to develop. I can tell you for a fact, that you *can*. Two > of my > best peach trees were planted directly from a peach pit. However, > it > takes about 4 or 5 years before you will be eating any peaches. > > I am almost mesmerized by the quality of peaches around Central > Georgia: > the firm, velvety texture, the bright golden to almost crimson hues, > the > exquisite, almost breath-taking aroma, and the heavenly taste, as > sweet > as sugar or honey ever dared to be. Here's to eating some sweet > Georgia > peaches! > > Take care! > > William A. Mills > Perry, GA > [email protected] > > ________________________________________________________________ > YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET! > Juno now offers FREE Internet Access! > Try it today - there's no risk! For your FREE software, visit: > http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. > > > ==== GAHOUSTO Mailing List ==== > For technical list assistance, contact listowner > Sandra Riner at [email protected] > ________________________________________________________________ YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET! Juno now offers FREE Internet Access! Try it today - there's no risk! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.