IMPERIAL 



IRON MOUNTAIN 



175 



industry is overloaded with white-fleshed 

 peaches, which must be sold in nearby mar- 

 kets or grown for home use. Illinois originated 

 about 1910 on the grounds of E. H. Riehl 

 near North Alton, Illinois. 



167. Illinois. (XV2) 



Tree medium in size and vigor, upright to spreading, 

 hardy, very productive. Leaves 5% inches long, 1% 

 inches wide, curled under at the tips, ovate-lanceolate, 

 thin, leathery ; margin deeply and sharply serrate, the 

 serrations often in 2 series ; teeth tipped with small 

 glands ; petiole % inch long, glandless. Blossoms mid- 

 season, variable in color, 1 inch across, often in twos. 

 Fruit early midseason ; 2 % inches in diameter, round- 

 oblate, compressed, the halves usually unequal ; cavity 

 deep, abrupt, often tinged with red ; suture shallow, 

 deepening toward the apex ; apex rounded, with a 

 mucronate tip ; color creamy-white, blushed with dull, 

 dark red and mottled with splashes of brighter red ; 

 pubescence heavy ; skin tough ; flesh white, stained red 

 near the pit, juicy, tender and melting, sweet ; good in 

 quality ; stone semi-free to free, obovate, elongated 

 toward the base, plump, short-pointed at the apex, with 

 grooved and pitted surfaces. 



IMPERIAL. Fig. 168. Of the several 

 honey-flavored peaches, Imperial is one of the 

 best. The fruit is not easily distinguished in 

 appearance from that of Climax, and is also 

 rather closely allied to Honey in outward char- 



168. Imperial. (XV 2 ) 



acters, but has a somewhat distinct flavor in 

 which it surpasses Climax and Honey. It 

 differs from both, also, in time of ripening. 

 The peaches drop badly as they mature. Im- 

 perial is worth a place in every home orchard 

 where it does not have to brave too great a 

 degree of cold ; and peach-breeders should 

 seize the opportunity to cross it with less 

 richly flavored northern varieties. Imperial is 

 a seedling of Honey grown in 1890 by G. L. 

 Taber, Glen Saint Mary, Florida. 



Tree medium in size or small, upright-spreading, 

 round-topped, productive. Leaves 6^4 inches long, l^fc 

 inches wide, flat, lanceolate, leathery ; margin finely 

 and shallowly serrate ; teeth tipped with glands ; petiole 

 % inch long, with 1-4 small, reniform glands. Blossoms 

 midseason ; medium in size, showy, light pink, usually 

 single. Fruit late; 2^ inches long, 2*4 inches wide, 

 oval, with unequal halves ; cavity shallow, medium in 

 width, flaring ; suture very shallow, often indistinct 

 toward the cavity ; apex distinctly elongated ; color 

 whitish, with faint mottlings and a distinct blush ; pubes- 

 cence short, thick ; skin tough, adhering to the pulp ; 

 flesh white, stained with red near the pit, juicy, fine- 

 grained, tender and melting, very sweet and of a de- 

 lightful flavor ; very good to best ; stone free, bulged 

 at one side, long and pointed at the apex, with rough, 

 pitted surfaces, dark brown mingled with purplish-red. 



IRON MOUNTAIN. Fig. 169. Hardiness 

 is the outstanding character which has brought 

 Iron Mountain into prominence. The intro- 

 ducer claims extreme hardiness of wood and 

 bud for the variety; others say that it is sur- 

 passed in hardiness by Crosby, Wager, and 

 other varieties of their type. Iron Mountain 

 is a very late, white-fleshed, freestone peach, 



169. Iron Mountain. 



well adapted for extending the commercial 

 limits for this fruit in regions where fall frosts 

 hold off sufficiently long for the fruit to ripen. 

 The tree-characters are very satisfactory, and 

 the peaches serve very well for culinary pur- 

 poses, but are not sufficiently attractive for 

 a dessert fruit. There seem to be two varieties 

 passing under this name, much alike in fruit; 

 one is large-flowered, the other small-flowered. 

 This variety might well be planted for some 

 markets; as, for example, near towns and cities 

 where it is desirable to extend the local market 

 as late as possible. Iron Mountain originated 

 in New Jersey about 1890, but nothing is known 

 of its parentage or its originator. 



Tree large, vigorous, upright-spreading, open-topped, 

 not always productive. Leaves 6 inches long, 1^ inches 

 wide, folded upward and recurved, obovate-lanceolate, 

 leathery ; margin glandular, finely serrate ; petiole % 

 inch long, with 1-6 reniform glands of medium size. 

 Flowers late, small, pale pink. Fruit very late; 2% 

 inches long, 2% inches thick, oblong-oval, often Bulged 

 on one side, compressed ; cavity contracted, below me- 

 dium in depth, flaring; suture shallow, extending only 

 to the tip ; apex distinctly mucronate or rounded, 

 sometimes tapering ; color creamy-white, occasionally 

 with a light blush ; pubescence heavy ; skin medium to 

 thin, tender, adherent to the pulp ; flesh white, stained 

 brown next to the pit, juicy, tender, sweet, mild ; 

 quality good ; stone semi-free, wedge-like at base, obovate, 

 plump, long-pointed at the apex, winged, with large, 

 wide and deep grooves in the surfaces. 



