Peaches became a major cash crop in the Somerset Hills during the late 19th century. Farmers gained new markets with the arrival of the New Jersey West Line Railroad in Bernardsville (1872) and the Rockaway Valley Railroad in Pottersville and Gladstone (1889-90). Railroads were used to ship peaches and other commodities to cities all along the East Coast. In 1886, Charles P. Bird of Minebrook Road in Liberty Corner used A. Bennett & Co., a wholesale merchant in Manhattan to market his crop. These bushels were probably shipped from the Bernardsville train station.
Peaches were also a premier crop at Cedar Hill Farm, the Samuel Owen estate (now Bernards Township Municipal Building).
Do you Know when the Peach Blight occurred in the early 20th century? Was it just one time or over several years?
Hi Dan,
There were several peach blights caused by insects and fungi. The big one was in the 1890s when the San Jose Scale, an insect, infected NJ peach trees and by 1910 had killed half. Rutgers has a history of the NJ peach industry at: https://njaes.rutgers.edu/peach/history-statistics/nj-peach-history.php
Thanks so much. I thought it took several decades.