120 Yearbook of the Department of Agriculture. 



by the owner, but carried home and planted by one of his 

 employees, a Mr. Ludbury. In due course a sprout grew 

 from the roots, and from it a tree was budded for Mr. H. L. 

 DeForest. The original tree died shortly after this, but 

 apparently the one propagated for Mr. DeForest lived and 

 became the source from which the variety, now much grown 

 in some parts of Florida, was propagated. 



Very early in the history of the variety, following the suc- 

 cessful growing of the tree on Mr. DeForest's place, about 15 

 wilding trees, which came up in the orange grove on the 

 homestead of Mrs. O. Kennedy, were budded to this variety. 

 This place was located a short distance north of Sorrento 

 and about 1 1 miles east of Eustis, Fla. 



This variety was first commercially propagated some time 

 prior to 1887 by the late G. H. Norton, then the proprietor 

 of a nursery at Eustis, and by him it was named "Triumph." 



It is reported that in 1887 Mr. DeForest shipped 5 boxes 

 of this variety to Boston, where they sold for $5 per box. 1 



DESCRIPTION. 



Form distinctly oblate, in cross-section indistinctly quadrangular; size 

 email to medium; cavity regular, large, medium depth, slope very gradual; 

 stem short, about one-half inch, slender; apex a small point set in a very 

 small, shallow basin which is surrounded, in some specimens at least, by an 

 indistinct quadrangular shield of gray; calyx large, 4 lobed, reflexed; sur- 

 face smooth except for rather indistinct sutures which divide the fruit into 

 quarters, the suture lines in many specimens encircling or nearly encircling 

 the fruit and radiating from the corners of the 4-parted calyx; color bright 

 yellowish red to dark orange red, depending *upon stage of maturity; dots 

 numerous, very minute, appearing indistinctly beneath the skin, hardly 

 visible in some specimens; skin very thin, tender; bloom very light, whit- 

 ish; flesh yellowish red at outer edge, losing yellowish shade as fruit softens, 

 with numerous yellowish fibers through the flesh, these becoming indistinct 

 as the fruit softens, translucent; texture buttery, tender, moderately juicy; 

 core oblong, cylindrical, medium in size, closed; seeds very variable, many 

 specimens seedless, sometimes 5 to 8 in number, plump or consisting merely 

 of the" unfilled integument, small to medium in size, rich brown in color, 

 condition and number of seeds probably determined by extent of fertiliza- 

 tion; flavor rich, sweet, somewhat astringent before ripening, but losing 

 astringency upon softening; quality very good. Season in vicinity of Glen 

 St. Mary usually begins in September and continues until toward the last 

 of No\ ember, but the bulk of the fruit ripens the last week in October and 

 the first half of November; when the weather is not too cold some specimens 

 may hang on the trees until nearly Christmas. 



V Letter from G. H. Norton, October, 1887. 



