Liberty County, Georgia - Chapter 18: __-« Leconte Pear Tree and Tea Cul', 1903

Chapter 18: __-« Leconte Pear Tree and Tea Cul'

_ of the origin of this remarkable fruit tree has beaks from Judge John L. Harden, a seguen descendant ' are ee tamily: uy aoe "The history of the LeConte pear is as follows : r

3 a nurseryman of New York, B cig all pear tree. "Heweae ae by Mr. Hogg that the fruit was of inferior quality, : only for preserving; that it would not 'mature its oe that it was the Chinese Sand Pear. The tree was given to _my mother and whenit grew large enough, it produced fruit which, to our surprise, was of excellent quality. It is productive and vigorous. The original tree is forty-five years old (in 1895), and is still productive and vigorous, although sadly neglected. It has borne twenty bushels in one year, after allowing for all that may have been stolen."

At the close of the late war, the people in Liberty county were all broken up and quite a number of them emigrated to southwestern Georgia. Among them was Col. Leander L. Varnedoe, a native of the county and a member of the old church. Upon the suggestion of his uncle, Mr. William Jones, that the tree might be propagated from the cutting, and that the fruit might be profitably raised in southwestern Georgia, whither he had moved, he secured quite a number of cuttings and took them with him and planted them at his home near Thomasville, and was soon delighted to see that the idea was a happy one, for he soon had an orchard of vigorous trees, yielding abundantly of luscious marketable fruit. Cuttings soon became in great demand; and from that little beginning the whole southern country has been covered with these trees. Many have made not only livings, but even fortunes of the same.

To give some idea of the impoverished condition of this people at the close of the war, and also what a happy hit was the idea of promoting the cultivation of this pear from cuttings, I relate the following incident:

On the return of Col. Varnedoe from the war, it is said that his first bill of fare was so poor and uninviting that he jocosely remarked to his wife: ''Annie, if you can, you may, but I can't say grace over such a dinner."

The old mother tree, from which the millions now in cultivation all over this southland have sprung, is still standing, and was in a flourishing condition, when the writer visited ita year ago. Itis now fifty years old, and has never shown any symptoms of "blight'' until a few years since,

The Old Leconte Pear Tree Tea Culture

A short while before the late civil war, Mr. William Jones © directed his attention to the cultivation of the teaplaut,and had a small space planted. The war coming on interfered - with the development of the scheme. After its close, and upon the death of Mr. Jones his daughter, Mrs. Rosa Screven, took up the work and was making of it an encouraging success. In 1879 Mr. John Jackson, of Scotland, who had been general manager of an English company in the raising and manufacturing of tea in India for fifteen years, and who, on account of the health of his wife had returned to Scotland, came over to the United States. On arriving at Washington City, among his investigations he found a record of tea culture, by Mrs. Rosa Screven, of Liberty county, Georgia, he grades, and sent the same to Mr. DeLuc, then commissioner of agriculture at Washington, who at once sent the specimens with an agent to New York to be tested by the experts of three large importing houses of that city, who pronounced it equal to any of the same grades of India tea and who could hadly be persuaded that it was not imported tea, or that the chest was made of tea wood raised in this country.

Mr. DeLuc at once sought an appropriation of the gov-- ernment, by way of testing it, and obtained $30,000 for the purpose, but for some reason, chiefly perhaps on account of health, the farm was not located in Georgia, but near Summerviile, South Carolina, though put under the direction of Mr. Jackson. Barrels of tea seed were ordered at once from India and thousands of plants started. After one year's experiment, Mr. Jackson being satisfied that the culture 'would be a success, concluded also to havea farm of hisown, and commenced planting out a farm on the Jones plantation in Liberty county, and soon had thirty acres of plants of vigorous growth. About this time the government changed hands; another party coming in power, Mr. De Luc was removed and General Loring coming in his place, ordered the enterprise abandoned. Mr. Jackson, having all his capital invested in the Liber ty county farm and not being able to carry on the business alone, sought the assistance of capitalists in Savannah, New York and Philadelphia, but failed, and was therefore compelled to suspend operations. Thus ended an enterprise which to Mr. Jackson's mind could have been made a thorough success.

In addition to the interest clustering around the matter there is also additional interest excited by the scientific principle involved in the construction of the house erected by Mr. Jackson, and in which he lived. The principal objection to the location was its unhealthiness, being in a low rial region. Mr. Jackson eres that the malarial str. unobstructed, would not rise above twenty ' likes feet and therefore 'sought to overcome 4 the same by mat l¢ his house above bison ,height. He built a , two room house upon - ie sills embedded six feet © Sin the ground, with - heavy timbers resting = upon them, and ex- - tending upinanangular direction some forty-two feet and anchored at the corners - with wire cables, as appears from the cut. The experiment seemed to be quite a success, and to establish Mr. jack=oer