240 THE PEACHES OF NEW YORK 



LATE CRAWFORD 



I. Mas LeVerger 7:231, 232, fig. 114. 1866-73. 2. Waugh Am. Peach Orch. 204. 1913. 



Crawford's Superb Malacatune. 3. Kenrick Am. Orch. 191, 192. 1841. 



Crawford's Late Melocoton. 4. Horticulturist 1:12. 1846-47. 5. Downing Fr. Trees .Am. 491. 

 1845. 6. Cole Am. Fr. Book 197. 1849. 



Crawford's Late. 7. Proc. Nat. Con. Fr. Gr. 31. 1848. 8. Hovey Fr. .Am. 2:9, 10, PI. 1851. 

 9. Elliott Fr. Book 273. 1854. 10. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 43. 1856. ii. Fulton Peach Cult. 194. 1908. 



Late Crawford is at the head of the Crawford family, long dominant 

 among the several groups of American peaches and not yet equalled b}' 

 any other yellow-fieshed peaches in quality. Late Crawford, a quarter- 

 century ago, began to give way to Elberta because of the greater 

 productiveness of the Elberta tree and the showier Elberta fruits and 

 now, though widely distributed, is nowhere largely planted and seems 

 destined to pass out of cultivation as a peach of commerce. L^nproduc- 

 tiveness and tardiness in coming in bearing are the faults on account of 

 which Late Crawford is failing. Itself adapted to a wide range of soil 

 and climatic condition. Late Crawford, through the recurring variations 

 from seed, has made the Crawford family the most cosmopolitan of the 

 several distinct races of American peaches. Of all the family it is most 

 virile, more than a score of its offspring being described in The Peaches of 

 New York. 



Compared with other Crawford-like peaches. Late Crawford is possibh' 

 the best in fruit-characters, the peaches being unsurpassed in appearance 

 and scarcely equalled in texture of flesh and richness of flavor. The 

 peaches, too, are more shapely and more uniform in shape than fruits of 

 other Crawford varieties, being rounder, trimmer in contour and having 

 a suture that scarcely mars the symmetry of the peach. In color, Late 

 Crawford runs the whole gamut of soft tints of red and yellow that make 

 Melocotons and Crawfords the most beautiful of all peaches. The trees 

 are as vigorous, hardy, healthy and as little susceptible to disease as 

 any of the varieties near of kin, failing only, as has been said, in produc- 

 tiveness and in coming in bearing rather tardily. Evidently destined to 

 pass from commercial cultivation, Late Crawford ought long to remain 

 one of the treasures of the home orchard. 



Late Crawford was raised by William Crawford, Middletown, New 

 Jersey, at least a hundred years ago, the exact date of origin, as well as 

 its parentage, being unknown. The variety was first brought to notice 

 by William Kenrick, Newton, Massachusetts, who described it in the 



