300 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[ October, 



placed is warm, they will not keep well, and if too 

 ci)ld the flavor is injured. If too dry the fruit 

 witliors; if too damp they rot. With this in 

 mind, he will only have to experiment a little to 

 see what is his best place to keep fruits. 



COMMUNTCA TIONS. 



THE NEW EARLY PEACHES. 



HY H. M. EXGLE, MARIETTA, PA. 



It is not a great while since the Early York 

 was the principal early Peach. From the advent 

 of Hale's Early dates a new era in peach culture. 

 Ripening two weeks in advance of Early York, 

 equal in quality, and nearly so in size, it was 

 rapidly disseminated, and for a time was one 

 of the leading market peaches. No sooner was 

 it fairly introduced than it showed a tendency 

 almost everywhere to rot on the tree, and now is 

 almost entirely discarded. 



The Early Beatrice, a .seedling originated by 

 Thomas Rivers, of England, made the next sen- 

 sation among peach growers, as it ripens about 

 two weeks m advance of Hale's. It was quite 

 extensively planted in Delaware, and in the 

 South. New varieties of more recent introduc- 

 tion, however, have cast it into the shade, as 

 they appear to be fully as early, of larger size 

 and better quality. These embrace Alexander, 

 Amsden, Downing, Saunders, Wilder, Musser, 

 Cumberland, Honeywell, and one from Freder- 

 ick, Md., and another from Gettysburg, Pa., both 

 the latter being not yet named. These are, no 

 doubt, all seedlings of Hale's, and except Wilder, 

 I will predict will not vary much in time of 

 ripening when fairly tested. We may also rea- 

 sonably expect that other new seedlings of the 

 same class will follow. 



With all this array of new candidates for first 

 honors, the time has gone by for five dollar 

 early peach trees, or even three dollars, unless 

 this new generation of early kinds will produce 

 seedlings that will make another leap of two 

 weeks in advance of their parents. Such a re- 

 sult may not be impossible, but there must be a 

 limit somewhere. All these new kinds, I be- 

 lieve, are accidental seedlings, except Wilder, 

 Saunders, and Downing. These I raised from 

 seeds, the peaches of which I fruited under glass, 

 and fertilized them with pollen of Apricot, with 

 the expectation of producing hybrids that would 



1)6 earlier than any peaches. The result is, 

 peaches as early, if not earlier than any now in- 

 troduced. 



Having seen or tasted the new kinds all but a 

 few, I am satisfied that in ai)pearance and quali- 

 ty they will ])rove juj near identical as in time of 

 ripening, and that none are superior in quality 

 to well-ripened Hale's. 



I am well aware of the freaks that peaches 

 ofttimes make. That the time of rijjcning of 

 difiercnt kinds in different sections, soils or lati- 

 tudes, is sometimes reversed. Therefore, in 

 order to be positive, they must be tested in dif- 

 ferent sections of countr}'. 



The results of my observations may help to 

 decide this apparently knotty question. We 

 have now all the above kinds growing except 

 the unnamed ones. Downing, Saunders, Cum- 

 berland, and Musser, have not fruited except 

 on the original trees. Wilder fruited last sea- 

 son under glass side by side with Alexander, and 

 ripened two to three days later. This season 

 the}' fruited side by side in open ground, and 

 Wilder ripened a few days earlier. These were 

 on young trees planted at the same time, and 

 was their first fruiting. Downing, on the original 

 tree, ripened a week earlier. Musser bore its 

 first fruit last season, was shown at the Centen- 

 nial, and received the credit as best of eight 

 early kinds. This season it ripened its fruit 

 within a few days of Downing. Cumberland 

 ripened its first fruit two years ago, and one 

 specimen measured 7^ inches in circumference. 

 Last season it bore a full crop, but in size rang- 

 ing with Alexander and Saunders, but ripened 

 its first specimens about three days before 

 Downing. It was not reported at the Centennial 

 in consequence of delay. I am of the opinion 

 that the Cumberland will prove one of the very 

 earliest of the new early kinds. This season it 

 had no fruit, the buds being winter-killed. I 

 have my ai^prehensions that some, at least, of 

 these new early peaches, may incline to rot like 

 Hale's, although mine have thus far shown no 

 unusual rot. Alexander, Amsden, Musser, Cum- 

 berland, and Honeywell show in foliage and 

 habit of growth a similarity to Hale's. Wilder 

 is one of the strongest growers on our grounds, 

 and resembles Hale's less than those just named. 

 Downing and Saunders show some mildew on 

 the foliage in nursery rows, but as they get age 

 they show verj' little — some seasons none. I 

 exj^ect, in a year or two, to report fully how all 

 these varieties behave side by side on our own 



