VARIETIES OF PEACHES 



351 



Fig. 182. Stevens. 



not found in many other peaches so late in the season. The 



appearance is as alluring as the taste, the 



fruits being almost perfect in color and 



shape. The variety has the reputation of 



being hardy in both wood and buds. Stevens 



originated about 1858 on the farm of B. 



Stevens, Morristown, New Jersey. 



Tree vigorous, upright-spreading, productive. 

 Fruit late; 2% inches in diameter, round-oval, with 

 nearly equal sides ; cavity deep, wide, abrupt ; suture 

 deep, often extending beyond the tip ; apex rounded, 



with a strongly mucromate and recurved tip; color greenish-white overlaid 

 with purplish-red, often mottled or splashed with darker red; pubescence 

 short, fine; skin thick, tough, adherent to the pulp; flesh white, tinted 

 with red near the pit and red underneath, the deepest surface blush, juicy, 

 coarse, sweet, sprightly; good in quality; stone nearly free, obovate, flat- 

 tened at the base, plump, with grooved surfaces. 



542. Iron Mountain (Fig. 183).— Hardiness is the outstanding 

 character which has brought Iron Mountain into prominence. 

 It is a very late, white-fleshed, freestone 

 peach, well adapted for extending the com- 

 mercial limits in regions where fall frosts 

 hold off sufficiently long for the fruit to 

 ripen. The tree characters are very satis- 

 factory, and the peaches serve very well for 

 culinary purposes, but are not sufficiently 

 attractive for a dessert fruit. There seem 

 to be two varieties passing under this name, 

 much alike in fruit; one is large-flowered, 

 the other small-flowered. Iron Mountain originated in New 

 Jersey about 1890, but nothing is known of its parentage or its 

 originator. 



Tree large, vigorous, upright-spreading, not always productive. Fruit 

 very late; 2% inches long^ 2i/2 inches thick, oblong-oval, often bulged on 

 one side, compressed; cavity contracted, below medium in depth, flaring; 

 suture shallow, extending only to the tip; apex distinctly mucronate or 

 rounded; sometimes tapering; color creamy-white, occasionally with a light 

 blush ; pubescence heavy ; skin medium to thin^ tender, adherent to the pulp ; 

 flesh white, stained brown next to the pit, juicy, tender, sweet, mild; quality 

 good; stone semi-free, wedge-like at base, obovate, plump, long-pointed 

 at the apex, winged, with large, wide and deep grooves in the surfaces. 



Fig. 183. Iron 

 Mountain. 



