230 THE PEACHES OF NEW YORK 



deeper near the tip; apex flattened or roundish, ending abruptl)- in a short, sharp point; 

 color greenish or creamy-white, with a dull, dark red blush, splashed and mottled with 

 carmine; pubescence thin, short, fine; skin thin, tender, variable in adherence to the pulp; 

 flesh greenish-white, with a red stain under the skin and often rayed with red about the 

 pit, juicy, stringy, tender and melting, sweet, mild; fair to good in quality; stone nearly 

 free, one and one-fourth inches long, seven-eighths inch wide, bulged on one side, ovate, 

 very plump, with surfaces pitted and with short, narrow grooves; ventral suture furrowed, 

 very deeply grooved at the edges; dorsal suture wide, deeply grooved. 



ILLINOIS 



1. N. J. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 36. 1912. 2. Stark Bros. Cat. 37 fig. 1913. 3. Waugh Am. Peach Orch. 

 203. 1913. 4. Stark Bros. Cat. 43. 1914. 



Illinois is a mid-season, vi^hite-fleshed, freestone peach, still on pro- 

 bation with what result as to commercial possibilities we should not like 

 to predict. It has been little tried in New York and growers in other 

 peach-regions are not in accord as to its value. In size, color and shape 

 of fruit, as the color-plate shows, Illinois is one of the beauties of the 

 orchard. Yet, all things considered, the new variety is not as good 

 as Champion with which it would have to compete. Neither tree- nor 

 fruit -characters are quite satisfactory as the variety grows on the Station 

 grounds. It must be apparent, too, to all peach-growers that the industry 

 is overloaded with white-fleshed peaches which at best must be sold in 

 nearby markets or grown for home use. 



Illinois originated about 19 10 on the grounds of E. H. Riehl near 

 North Alton, Illinois. It is supposed to be a cross between Stark Heath 

 and Washington. 



Tree medium in size and vigor, upright to spreading, hardy, very productive; trunk 

 thick; branches stocky, smooth, dark reddish-brown overlaid by ash-gray; branchlets 

 slender, short, with intemodes dark red and olive-green, smooth, glabrous, with a few 

 inconspicuous, raised lenticels variable in size. 



Leaves five and one-half inches long, one and one-half inches wide, curled under at 

 the tips, ovate-lanceolate, thin, leathery; upper surface dull, dark green, rugose along 

 the midrib; lower surface olive-green; margin deeply and sharply serrate, the serrations 

 often in two series, tipped with small glands; petiole three-eighths inch long, glandless. 



Flower-buds medium to large, obtuse or conical, plump, pubescent, appressed; 

 blossoms appear in mid-season; flowers variable in color, over one inch across, often in 

 twos; pedicels short, greenish, glabrous; calyx-tube reddish-green, greenish-yellow within, 

 campantdate, glabrous; calyx-lobes medium to broad, obtuse, glabrous within, pubescent 

 without; petals oval, crenate, often broadly notched near the base, tapering to narrow 

 claws with a tinge of red at the base; filaments one-half inch long, equal to the petals in 

 length; pistil pubescent at the base, as long as the stamens. 



