258 FRUIT-GROWING 



time the seedling orchards had been of neces- 

 sity a collection of mixed varieties. It is a 

 noteworthy fact that, in spite of the peach 

 being of Chinese origin and in spite of the 

 fact that it had been under cultivation for 

 many centuries in other lands, practically 

 every commercial sort that we have to-day 

 originated as a seedling in this country. 



Admiral Dewey, Alexander, Triumph 



Among the earliest peaches which we have 

 are the Alexander, Admiral Dewey, and Tri- 

 umph. Alexander is the parent of the other 

 two and all three share honors as being among 

 the first to ripen. Outside of this one char- 

 acter they are all ''weak" varieties, and 

 if they ripened later would never have 

 attracted any particular attention. 



For years we had two or three trees of Alex- 

 ander in our orchards and I do not believe 

 that we ever sold a peach from them. In the 

 first place they were always shy bearers, and 

 as they were the first to ripen they were 

 eagerly eaten at home. 



Admiral Dewey comes nearer being a com- 

 mercial variety than either of the others. The 

 name indicates that it is not an old variety, 

 having been introduced shortly after the 

 Spanish War, just about the time when so 

 many boy babies were being named after the 



