ONDERDONK 



PEENTO 



181 



ONDERDONK. Onderdonk was much 

 talked of in Texas and the Southwest as 

 a promising variety in the last years of the 

 century just passed, but it does not seem 

 to have come up to expectations, and is 

 now little heard of, although it is listed in a 

 few of the southern catalogs. It seems hardly 

 to be known in the North outside of experi- 

 ment station collections. Onderdonk bears the 

 name of its originator, G. Onderdonk, Nursery, 

 Texas. The following brief description is 

 made from trees growing at Geneva, New 

 York. 



Tree large, upright spreading, vigorous, rather un- 

 productive in tht North ; leaves with reniform glands. 

 Fruit midseason, medium to large, round-oblong, flat- 

 tened ; suture distinct ending in a pointed apex ; skin 

 lemon-yellow, sometimes with a bit of blush in the 

 sun ; flesh yellow, firm, rich with a vinous, piquant 

 flavor, tender, juicy ; quality fair to good ; pit of me- 

 dium size, free. 



OPULENT. Opulent is a white-fleshed 

 freestone peach of very mediocre character. 

 The fruits are attractive in appearance, but 

 not uncommonly so, and are often marred by 

 peach-scab. The quality is scarcely better than 

 the average, and is ruined for most peach- 

 lovers by a bitter tang, though to others 

 this almond-like bitterness in the flavor may 

 be a commendation. The variety ripens in 

 midseason. The trees are scarcely more satis- 

 factory than the fruits, being unproductive and 

 none too vigorous. Opulent was sent out by 

 Luther Burbank, Santa Rosa, California, as 

 a hybrid between the Muir peach and New 

 White nectarine. 



Tree large, vigorous, upright-spreading, with a ten- 

 dency to droop, medium in productiveness. Leaves 6% 

 inches long, 1% inches wide, flattened or curled down- 

 ward, obovate-lanceolate, leathery ; margin finely ser- 

 rate ; teeth tipped with reddish-brown glands ; petiole 

 % inch long, with 1-6 small, globose and reniform, 

 reddish-brown glands. Flowers midseason, 1 inch across, 

 white at the center of the petals becoming dark pink 

 near the margins. Fruit early midseason ; 2 % inches 

 in diameter, round-oval, compressed, with unequal 

 halves ; cavity deep, abrupt, often marked with red ; 

 suture a line or very shallow, often a slight depression 

 just beyond the point ; apex rounded, with a mucronate 

 and recurved tip ; color creamy-white, with a faint 

 blush, speckled and striped with darker red ; pubescence 

 short ; skin tough, separates from the pulp ; flesh white, 

 juicy, stringy, tender, melting, sweet but sprightly ; 

 fair in quality ; stone free, ovate, flattened at the base, 

 plump, short-pointed, with pitted surfaces marked by 

 few grooves. 



PALLAS. Fig. 175. Pallas Honeydew. 

 Pallas is one of the best of the several honey- 

 flavored, beaked peaches. It is supposed to 

 thrive only in warm climates, but in New 

 York the trees are vigorous, appear to be 

 hardy, and differ from northern varieties, so far 

 as life events are concerned, only in holding 

 their leaves longer. The fruits run small and 

 lack uniformity in size, faults that will not 

 permit Pallas ever to become a commercial 

 sort in northern regions. Moreover, the 

 peaches are not attractive in appearance, suffer 

 terribly from brown-rot, and do not ship well. 

 In quality Pallas is almost unapproachable so 

 rich, sweet, aromatic, and delicious as well to 

 justify the sobriquet, "Honeydew," bestowed 



upon it. This variety might well be planted in 

 home orchards in the North, and is a stand- 

 ard in the far South. Pallas is one of the 

 many seedlings of Honey and originated in 

 1878 with L. E. Berckmans, Augusta, Georgia. 



175. Pallas. (X%) 



Tree medium in vigor, upright-spreading, round-topped, 

 productive. Leaves fall late in the season, 6 inches 

 long, 1 % inches wide, ovate-lanceolate, thin, leathery ; 

 margin sharply and often doubly serrate, glandular ; 

 petiole % inch long, stout, glandless or with 1-3 small, 

 globose glands. Flowers midseason, light pink changing 

 to dark red. Fruit early midseason ; 2 inches in diam- 

 eter, pointed-oval, compressed, with halves equal ; cavity 

 shallow, flaring, with tender skin ; suture shallow ; apex 

 a characteristically long, straight beak ; color pale 

 white, occasionally with a bright red blush but mostly 

 with dull mottlings ; pubescence medium in amount ; 

 skin thick, tough ; flesh white, scarcely stained at the 

 pit, very juicy, sweet, tender and melting, high-flavored ; 

 very good in quality ; stone free, ovate, slightly wedge- 

 shaped at the base, plump, conspicuously winged, long- 

 pointed, with pitted and grooved surfaces. 



PEARSON. Pearson is a large, handsome- 

 ly-colored, white-fleshed, freestone peach of 

 good quality, which ripens ten days before 

 Champion. There are a good many white-* 

 fleshed peaches at this season, but Pearson is 

 an exceptionally good one, much excelling 

 Mamie Ross, with which it might have to 

 compete, although the latter ripens a little 

 later. The trees are very vigorous, productive, 

 and healthy. Pearson originated with J. M. 

 Pearson, McKinney, Texas. 



Tree large, vigorous, spreading, the lower branches 

 drooping, very productive. Leaves 7 inches long, 1% 

 inches wide, obovate-lanceolate, leathery ; apex long and 

 narrow ; margin finely serrate ; teeth tipped with 

 reddish-brown glands ; petiole % inch long, glandless 

 or with 1-4 small, globose, reddish-brown glands. Flow- 

 ers very early, 2 inches across, pink, usually single. 

 Fruit early midseason ; round-oval or somewhat cordate, 

 compressed, with unequal halves, bulged near the apex ; 

 2 inches in diameter ; cavity medium to deep, abrupt, 

 with tender skin ; suture quite variable in depth ; apex 

 round or depressed, with a small, recurved, mamelon 

 tip ; color greenish-white, with a blush covering much 

 of the surface, more or less mottled ; pubescence thin, 

 fine, short ; skin thin, tough, semi-free ; flesh white, 

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

 tender and melting, pleasantly flavored ; good in qual- 

 ity ; stone semi-clinging or free, oval, flattened at the 

 base, winged, with pitted surfaces. 



PEENTO. Chinese Flat. Flat Peach of 

 China. Peento was the first variety of a group 

 of peaches to which it gives its name, now 

 common in the Gulf regions. The peach is 

 flattened endwise, with a flat stone, so different 



