FLORIDA GEM 



GENERAL LEE 



171 



firm, tender, sweet or mildly subacid, pleasantly flavored ; 

 very good in quality ; stone free, ovate, plump, flattened 

 near the base with pitted surfaces. 



FLORIDA GEM. Florida Gem is rated 

 by peach-growers in Florida as one of the 

 best seedlings of Honey for home and com- 

 mercial purposes. Its ripening date is from 

 a week to ten days earlier than Honey, the 

 crops coming on the markets in Florida the 

 first week in July. The peaches, besides being 

 earlier, are firmer and ship rather better than 

 those of its well-known parent. The variety 

 seems to have been first described in a report 

 to the Florida Station in 1896, but when, where, 

 and by whom originated does not appear. The 

 fruit is described in southern catalogs as fol- 

 lows: 



Fruit medium to large, round-oblong, pointed ; suture 

 indistinct, often wanting ; apex conical, long, recurved ; 

 skin fuzzy, thin, tough, pale yellow washed with deep 

 red on the sunny side ; flesh firm, juicy, white, red at 

 the stone, sweet, agreeable ; quality very good ; stone 

 free, oval, red. 



FOSTER. Fig. 163. Foster is so s ; milar 

 to Late Crawford that even experienced grow- 

 ers can hardly tell them apart. Those who 



163. Foster. 



grow the two in the same orchard find the 

 essential differences to be that Foster is a 

 larger peach than Late Crawford, is more 

 rotund, somewhat more flattened at the base, is 

 a little earlier, possibly handsomer, and is 

 even of better quality; the trees of Foster, 

 how r ever, are hardly so productive as those of 

 either of the two unproductive Crawfords. 

 This unproductiveness is the fault that keeps 

 the variety in the background as a commercial 

 peach. The variety is worth planting in home 

 orchards. Foster originated about 1857 with 

 J. T. Foster, Medford, Massachusetts. 



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

 variable in productiveness. Leaves 6 inches long, 1% 

 inches wide, folded upward, oval to obovate-lanceolate, 

 leathery ; margin finely serrate ; teeth tipped with small 

 glands ; petiole % inch long, with 1-4 small globose 

 glands. Blossoms midseason, large, pale pink. Fruit 

 midseason ; 2 % inches in diameter, round-cordate, often 

 bulged at one side, compressed, with unequal sides ; 

 cavity deep, wide, abrupt, often splashed with red ; 

 suture shallow, becoming deeper at both apex and 

 cavity and extending slightly beyond the point ; apex 

 rounded or pointed, with a recurved, mamelon or oc- 

 casionally mucronate tip ; color deep yellow overspread 

 with dark red, with a few splashes or stripes of red ; 

 pubescence long, thick ; skin thick, tough, separates 

 from the pulp when fully ripe ; flesh deep yellow, faintly 



stained with red near the pit, juicy, coarse and stringy, 

 firm but tender, sweet, mild, spicy ; very good in quality ; 

 stone free, small, oval, pointed at the apex, pitted. 



FOX. Fox Seedling. This comparatively 

 old sort seems to have taken on new life in 

 all of the southern states, and is listed in sev- 

 eral southern catalogs. It was placed in the 

 fruit catalog of the American Pomological 

 Society in 1891, dropped in 1897, and replaced 

 in 1899. The variety originated in New Jersey 

 sometime previous to 1890, but where and 

 when does not appear. 



Tree vigorous, upright-spreading, productive, hardy ; 

 glands globose. Fruit late, medium to large, round, 

 slightly compressed ; suture extending nearly around the 

 fruit ; skin creamy-white with red blush ; flesh white, 

 red at the pit, mild, juicy, sweet with a rich vinous 

 flavor ; quality very good ; stone oval, of medium size, 

 free. 



FRANCES. The great desideratum of 

 peach-growers is a good market variety to 

 follow Elberta. Of a score or more advertised 

 to fill this particular niche in peach-growing, 

 Frances is one of the best. The fruits average 

 as large as those of Elberta, or, at most, fall 

 short of it but a trifle; they are handsomer 

 than those of Elberta, having a richer back- 

 ground of yellow and more brilliancy in the 

 red cheek; are more nearly round and more 

 uniform in size and shape ; the quality is much 

 the same as that of Elberta, the difference in 

 flavor, texture, and juiciness being in favor of 

 Frances. But the chief right of Frances to 

 a place in pomology arises from the fact that 

 it extends the Elberta season a few days or a 

 week. All that is known of the history of 

 Frances is that it came from Texas about 

 1900. 



Tree very large, tall, upright, slightly spreading, 

 hardy, productive. Leaves oval to obovate-lanceolate, 

 large, thin, and leathery. Fruit late, season long; 2% 

 inches long, 2% inches through, round-oval, slightly 

 oblique, halves unequal, bulged at apex ; cavity medium 

 in depth and width, slightly flaring ; suture shallow, 

 deepening toward apex ; apex roundish ; color deep 

 lemon-yellow, specked and widely splashed with dull red 

 on a lively blush cheek ; dots small, numerous, rather 

 conspicuous ; pubescence short, thin ; skin thin, tough, 

 separating readily ; flesh yellow, red at stone, juicy, 

 moderately coarse, tender, fibrous, pleasing subacid, rich, 

 sweet, vinous ; good to very good ; stone free. 



GENERAL LEE. R. E. Lee. Lee. Gen- 

 eral Lee is a white-fleshed clingstone, the fruit 

 none too attractive and surpassed in quality 

 by that of other varieties of its season. It is 

 without value in the North. Southern growers 

 say General Lee is an improved Chinese Cling, 

 and as such well worth growing under some 

 conditions. Tree and fruits are susceptible to 

 brown-rot. The variety, as its history shows, 

 really belongs to eastern Asia, and thus arouses 

 interest. General Lee originated with Judge 

 Campbell, Pensacola, Florida, from pits 

 brought from Japan in 1860. 



Tree very large, vigorous, spreading, unproductive. 

 Leaves 6^4 inches long, 1^ inches wide, flat or folded 

 downward, oval to obovate-lanceolate, thick, leathery ; 

 margin coarsely serrate ; teeth tipped with reddish- 

 brown glands ; petiole % inch long, with 1-4 large, 

 renifprm, reddish-brown glands. Blossoms midseason, 

 1 % inches across, pink. Fruit midseason ; 2 % inches in 

 diameter, round-oval, compressed, with halves equal ; 



