Pike

” Charles T. Smith, Concord, Ga. Concord is located in the fruit belt of Middle Georgia. The country is slightly rolling and well-watered. The soil is productive and can easily be brought to a very high state of fertility. For years cotton has been the staple crop, but King Cotton has a powerful rival now in peaches and grapes. Fruit-growing has introduced into Middle Georgia about twelve years ago. The first plantings were small and there were many scoffers. The industry proved to be very remunerative, and each year showed an increased acreage until fruit farms of 100 to 500 acres are now not uncommon, and hundreds of carloads of grapes and peaches are shipped annually and are known far and wide for their superior quality. Georgia grapes and peaches bring a higher price in all the leading markets than the same fruits from any other State in the Union, and with each season their popularity is increased. The future outlook is very encouraging. The prices to be obtained now are not so large as heretofore, but with increased production came better methods of growing and hauling and better shipping facilities, and the profits to be derived are much the same, and far more satisfactory than any other crops that can be grown. This industry has been largely fostered by Northern men, who have always been with the foremost in progress. Their efforts have been crowned with success, and they may now look with pleasure not only on the handsome properties they have amassed but also on this splendid new industry in the development of which they have been pioneers.” Source: Letters from Northern and Western Farmers, Giving Their Experience in the South; The Southern States, March 1864 by Richard H. Edmonds.