CHAPTER XI 



VARIETIES OF PEACHES 



In the author's Peaches oj New York, 2181 

 varieties of this fruit are described; the num- 

 ber attests the variability of the peach in 

 America, Europe, and Asia, many sorts grown 

 at one time or another in the New World 

 having come from the Old World. Of these, 

 120 are described in this text as being in 

 cultivation at the present time, most of which, 

 but not all, are offered in current catalogs of 

 the trade. The great number of kinds can 

 be distinguished through differences in size, 

 shape, skin, flesh, flavor, aroma, stone, and 

 season; and, if fruit be lacking or insufficient 

 for identification, the leaf, flower, and tree 

 offer nearly as many more distinguishing char- 

 acters. If the histories be noted, it will be 

 seen that most of the varieties have come from 

 chance seedlings, and that there have been few 

 attempts in the past systematically to breed 

 peaches. The several groups and the many 

 varieties described make an excellent founda- 

 tion upon which to build, and now that plant- 

 breeding centers around better-known phenom- 

 ena than breeders have had to work with in the 

 past, it may be expected that peaches superior 

 to those we now have will be introduced rap- 

 idly. Unfortunately, a comparatively large 

 number of the descriptions have had to be 

 compiled; wherever this is the case, the fact 

 is noted. All of the other descriptions, by 

 far the larger number, have been made from 

 trees growing on the grounds of the Experi- 

 ment Station at Geneva, New York. 



ADMIRAL DEWEY. Fig. 153. Admiral. 

 Dewey. While nowhere largely planted, Ad- 

 miral Dewey is often set for an early peach 

 in commercial and home orchards. The 



153. Admiral Dewey. (X%) 



peaches are yellow in flesh, good in quality, 

 not always freestone, run small, are so heavily 

 pubescent as to be unattractive, are very sus- 

 ceptible to brown-rot, and are often disfigured 

 by peach-scab. Admiral Dewey was grown 



161 



from a seed of Alexander by J. D. Husted, 

 Vineyard, Georgia, and was introduced in 1899 ; 

 it is grown commercially East, West, North, 

 and South. 



tipped with reddish-brown glands ; petiole % inch long, 

 with one to seven large, reniform, greenish-yellow 

 glands. Flowers midseason, pink, 1% inches across. 

 Fruit early; 2% inches long, 2% inches wide, round- 

 oblate, compressed ; cavity deep, wide, abrupt ; suture 

 shallow, deeper at the extremities ; apex flattened, with 

 mucronate tip ; color deep orange-yellow, blushed with 

 dark red, indistinctly splashed and mottled ; pubescence 

 heavy ; skin thin, tender, adherent to the pulp ; flesh 

 yellow, tinged with red near the pit, juicy, stringy, 

 tender, melting, sweet but sprightly ; good in quality ; 

 stone semi-free to free, obovate, flattened at the base, 

 tapering to a short point, with grooved surfaces. 



ALBRIGHT CLING. Albright Cling is a 

 great favorite among canners in the San 

 Joaquin Valley, California. The fruits hang 

 long on the trees and stand shipment well, 

 even after ripening. The peaches ripen very 

 late, enabling canners to make a late run in 

 canning. The variety originated with a Mr. 

 Albright, Placerville, California, at least a 

 quarter-century ago. 



Tree strong, bearing early, regularly and heavily. 

 Fruit late, very large ; yellow with a bright cheek ; 

 flesh firm, yellow, rather dry, rich and sweet ; quality 

 very good ; pit of medium size, clinging. 



ALEXANDER. Alexander's Early. Alex- 

 ander is one of the notable early peaches on 

 this continent, hardiness and vigor of tree 

 contributing with earliness to make the variety 

 .popular. Unfortunately, the peaches run small, 

 the flesh clings to the stone, is so tender that 

 the two can be separated only with difficulty, 

 and the quality is poor. In addition to the 

 defects of the fruit, the trees have the fault 

 of being unproductive. The fruits are very 

 susceptible to brown-rot, but to offset this 

 weakness, the trees are resistant to leaf-curl. 

 Alexander has been more or less grown in 

 every peach-region on this continent, some- 

 times attaining considerable commercial im- 

 portance, but is now widely cultivated only 

 on the Pacific slope. It is often confused with 

 Amsden, though the two are quite distinct. 

 Alexander originated soon after the Civil War 

 on the farm of 0. A. Alexander, Mount 

 Pulaski, Illinois. 



Tree large, vigorous, upright-spreading, hardy, unpro- 

 ductive. Leaves 6 inches long, 1% inches wide, oval- 

 lanceolate, thin, leathery ; margin finely serrate ; teeth 

 tipped with dark-red glands ; petiole % inch long, 

 glandless or with 1-4 small, usually globose, greenish- 

 yellow glands tipped with red. Mowers early, pale 



