358 



SYSTEMATIC POMOLOGY 



freestone peach is delicious to the taste either as a dessert or as 

 a culinary fruit. However, Crosby falls far 

 short in ai)pearance, as the peaches run 

 small, are somewhat irrej^ular, and are cov- 

 ered with dense tomentum. The tree is dis- 

 tinfjuishod by its willowy growth, small 

 leaves, and small flowers. Crosby was sent 

 out about 1876 by a Mr. Crosby, Billerica, 

 INIassachusetts. 



Fig. 190. Crosby. Tree small, vigorous, spreading, unusually hardy, 



very productive. Fruit late; 2% inches in diameter, 

 round-oblate, compressed, Avith unequal sides; cavity deep, flaring, some- 

 times splashed with red; suture shallow; apex rounded, with a sunken 

 mucronate tip; color orange-yellow, often blushed over much of the surface 

 with dull red, splashed and striped with darker red; pubescence long, 

 thick, coarse; skin thick, tough, adherent to the pulp; flesh deep yellow, 

 stained with red near the pit, juicy, stringy, firm but tender, sweet, mild; 

 very good in quality; stone free, oval, plump, bulged near the apex, with 

 pitted and grooved surfaces. 



555. Late Crawford (Fig. 191), a quarter-century ago, began 

 to give way to Elberta because of the greater productiveness 

 of the tree and the showier fruits, and now, 

 though widely distributed, is nowhere large- 

 ly planted. Unproductiveness and tardiness 

 in coming in bearing are the faults of Late 

 Crawford. The variety is possibly the best 

 of all peaches in fruit characters. The fruits 

 are more shapely tlian those of other peaches, 

 being more uniform, rounder, trimmer in 

 contour, and having a suture that scarcely 

 mars the symmetry. In color, it runs the 

 whole gamut of the soft tints of red and yellow that make the 

 Crawfords the most beautiful of all peaches. The trees are as 

 vigorous, hardy, healthy and as little susceptible to disease as 

 any of the varieties of kin. This excellent peach was raised by 

 William Crawford, Middletown, New Jersey, at least a hundred 

 years ago. 



Tree large, vigorous, upright-spreading, not very productive. Fruit late; 

 2% inches in diameter, round-oval, compressed, with unequal halves; cavity 



Fig. 191. Late 

 Crawford. 



