148 TEANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 



Of the freestones, there are several of very light color, both of 

 flesh and skin, and some that are v^^hite both meat and skin ; these 

 latter are less juicy and less flavor ^than the others. All of these 

 are cultivated in orchards in the South direct from the seed, and 

 without budding. They are dried in large quantities, and formerly 

 were distilled in large quantities for peach brandy. Another less 

 common, is a yellow-skinned, yellow-flesh, and almost lemon shape, 

 and with a longer, pointed pit. All of the above described are 

 small peaches — the lemon-shaped a little larger than the others, 

 and a fair, medium-sized peach. There is another, locally known as 

 an " Indian peach," that is very large, fine looking, and striped like 

 red-streaked apples, yellow flesh and red striped meat to the pit, the 

 color growing deeper around the pit. This peach is intensely acid, 

 unlike the generality of peaches in this respect, and in its flavor. It 

 is a freestone. 



When the budded trees came into bearing the differences noted 

 were, that on some trees the rich high color of the mother tree from 

 which the buds were taken never appeared on a single peach. It 

 was toned down, lighter colored, and with scarce a trace of a blush. 

 The fruit was smaller also. Some trees showed a less juicy fruit — 

 that is, some of the paler colored, fruited with less firmness of 

 flesh than the mother tree, and the pit was smaller. 



The lemon stock imparted its lemon shape partially to the form, 

 as well as its color partially, and altered form of pit was noticeable 

 also. 



The " plum peach," or cling-stone, was of same color as the 

 mother peach, but darker — the observation was that the color was 

 intensified, particularly in the shoulder, that became so dark it would 

 scald when exposed to the sun on the tree, from absorbing more 

 heat, and the dark surface of the shoulder would shrivel in conse- 

 quence. In these there was a tendency to adhere to the pit not 

 found in any of the others, or the mother tree. The juiciness and 

 flavor of the mother tree being similar, there was no difference 

 noted. 



Lastly the " Indian peach " was recognized, but this was only in a 

 single tree. There were many of each of the others. The largest 

 peaches of the orchard were from this tree that showed Indian 

 blood. They were very sensibly striped, so that any one would 

 notice it — the meat as well as skin — and although the mother tree 

 flavor was there it was so acid as to impair its quality. 



Another thing noticed. The little white peaches have a very 

 heavy velvet coat. These light-skinned peaches showed a heavy vel- 

 vet coat, not on any others to the same extent, and the " plum 

 peaches" are quite smooth in that respect. The budded ones showed 

 this smoothness and freedom from velvet also. 



An advantage in making these comparisons was having the 

 mother tree in bearing also, in the same orchard. These features 



