155 THE AMERICAN PEACH ORCHARD 



reniform in the pure type ; flowers very large, light 

 pink in the pure type, but smaller and darker colored 

 in some of the mixed descendants ; fruit large, often 

 enormously so, generally long oval and compressed, 

 creamy white, with a delicate blush in the pure type, 

 but white or yellow in the mixed descendants; skin 

 very delicate and thin in the pure type, with a deli- 

 cate marbled or stippled appearance, but firmer in 

 many of the recent varieties; flesh fine grained, soft, 

 juicy, melting in the pure type, but firmer in mixed 

 descendants; stone somewhat flat, with medium cor- 

 rugations, adhesion various; season variable, but 

 early varieties predominating. Chinese Cling is the 

 type of this group ; but Belle of Georgia, Waddell, 

 and Hiley are, perhaps, the best known commercial 

 types. Elberta, best known of all, belongs to this 

 group, but its characters do not conform nicely to 

 those of the pure type. 



3. Honey Group — Fruit long and irregular in 

 form, with a deep suture, and usually with a long, 

 pointed apex; pits long, corrugated, and sharply 

 pointed. Tree not hardy, suitable for planting only 

 in the extreme southern states, along the Gulf of 

 Mexico. The variety, Honey, is the one commonly 

 grown. 



4. Columbia Group — Mostly large trees (Colum- 

 bia itself being an exception to this rule) ; fruit late, 

 firm, often streaked and mottled; pits small, oval, 

 pointed. The variety Columbia, taken as the type, 

 has been long known in the United States, but has 

 never been cultivated on an extensive scale. Other 

 varieties are Cabler, La Reine, Lula, Texas, and Vic- 

 toria. 



5. Peen-to Group — Tree large and vigorous, wil- 

 lowy, with long, slender branches ; leaves long and 

 narrow; fruit much flattened endwise. (Though 



