200 THE PEACHES OF NEW YORK 



obtuse, glabrous within, heavily pubescent near the outer edges; petals ovate, irregularly 

 notched near the base, tapering to short, white claws; filaments one-fourth inch long, 

 shorter than the petals; pistil pubescent at the base, longer than the stamens. 



Fruit matures late; two and five-eighths inches long, two and nine-sixteenths inches 

 wide, round-oval, compressed; cavity deep, contracted, narrow, abrupt, faintly tinged with 

 red ; suture deep, extending beyond the apex ; apex roundish or flattened, with a mucronate 

 tip; color greenish-white changing to creamy-white, blushed on one side with lively red, 

 splashed and marbled with duller red ; pubescence thick ; skin tough, adhering to the pulp ; 

 flesh white, tinged with red near the pit, juicy, meaty, tender, sweet but sprightly, aro- 

 matic; good in quality; stone clinging, one and three-eighths inches long, one inch wide, 

 oval, conspicuously winged, bulged on one side, with pitted surfaces; ventral suture deeply 

 furrowed along the sides, rather narrow; dorsal suture large, deep, wide, winged. 



CfflNESE FREE 



I. Ala. Sta. Bui. n:;, ii. iHgo. 2. Am. Pom. So( . Cal. 44. 1891. 3. Ga. Sla. Bui. 42:234. 

 1898. 4. Del. .Sta. Rpl. 13:95. 1901. 5. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 36. 1909. 6. Waugh Am. Peach Orch. 

 200. 191 3. 



Perhaps it is enough to say that Chinese Free is Chinese CUng with 

 a free stone — at least it has been so heralded. On our grounds, however, 

 leaves, flowers and fruits are all smaller and the quality of the fruit is 

 not nearly as good while the tree runs a little better in most characters. 

 This, perhaps, is a good example of many of the seedlings of Chinese 

 Cling — the influence of another parent and the stimulus of hybridization 

 are apparent. Chinese Free is surpassed by many other white-fleshed 

 peaches of its season for both home and market. Doubt has arisen 

 as to whether the tree on the Station grounds is the true Chinese Free. 

 yet we think it is the variety now commonly going under this name. 



This variety grew from a seed of Chinese Cling in the orchard of 

 W. P. Robinson, Atlanta, Georgia, nearly forty years ago. Mr. Robinson 

 first exhibited it before the Georgia Horticultural Society in 1881 as an 

 unnamed seedling. Thereafter it was sometimes known locally as Robinson 

 but commercially it has always been called Chinese Free. In 1891 the 

 Georgia Horticultural Society formally adopted the latter name. The 

 American Pomological Society listed Chinese Free on its fruit-list in 1891 

 but dropped it in 1897. In 1909, however, another change in heart caused 

 the Society's officials again to list it in the catalog where it still remains. 

 Tree above medium in size, vigorous, spreading, the lower branches slightly drooping, 

 open-topped, neither very hardy nor very productive; trunk thick; branches stoclc},', 

 smooth, reddish-brown tinged with light ash-gray; branchlets slender, inclined to rebranch, 

 long, dark red intermingled with olive-green, glossy, smooth, glabrous, vnth. numerous 

 large, conspicuous lenticels raised toward the base. 



