274 THE PEACHES OF NEW YORK 



Flower-buds hardy, pubescent, conical or pointed, plump, usually free; blossoms 

 appear early; flowers one and one-half inches across, pink; pedicels very short, glabrous, 

 green; calyx-tube reddish-green at the base, greenish-yellow within, obconic, glabrous; 

 calyx-lobes short, acute, glabrous within, pubescent without; petals oval to ovate, tapering 

 to claws sometimes red at the base; filaments one-half inch long, shorter than the petals; 

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



Fruit matures very early; about two and one-eighth inches in diameter, round, com- 

 pressed, with unequal halves; cavity deep, flaring; suture shallow; apex ending in a 

 recurved, mucronate tip but variable; color creamy-white, heavily blushed and often 

 mottled with dark red; pubescence short, thick; skin thin, tender, separates from the 

 pulp when fully ripe; flesh white, very juicy, string^', tender, sweet, aromatic, highly 

 flavored; very good in quality; stone clinging, becoming semi-cling when fully mature, 

 one and one-fourth inches long, three-fourths inch wide, oval, plump, inconspicuously 

 winged, with corrugated surfaces. 



SMOCK 



I. U. S. D. A. Rpl. 193, 194. 1865. 2. Mas Le Verger 7:75, 76, fig. 36. 1866-73. 3. Am. Pom. 

 Soc. Cat. 2ii. 1873. 4. Leroy Ot(/. Powi. 6:279 fig., 280. '^79. 5- AficA. 5to. Bm/. 169:225, 226. 1S99. 

 6. Fulton Peach Cult. 196, 197. 1908. 



Saint George. 7. Kenrick .4 m. Orch. 193. 1841. 



Smock Freestone. 8. Downing Fr. Trees .Am. 492. 1845. 9. Bridgenian Gard. .Ass'l Pt. 3:108. 

 1857. lo. .Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 78. 1862. 



Though Uttle grown now, during the last half of the last century 

 Smock was one of the leading commercial peaches of its season. The 

 variety has so little to recommend it, however, that we cannot but believe 

 that reputation more than merit kept up its popularity. The trees are 

 about all that could be desired but the peaches are of but mediocre quality 

 and not at all attractive in appearance, lacking in size and color, are ungainly 

 in shape and have but little uniformity in size, color or shape. It is one of 

 the latest yellow-fleshed peaches and is said to be excellent for all culinary 

 purposes. With so many better varieties of late yellow-fleshed, freestone 

 peaches, Smock is not worth planting for any purpose. 



Smock originated three-quarters of a century or more ago with a 

 Mr. Smock, Middletown, New Jersey. Variations under such names as 

 Smock X and Smock (Hance) have arisen as distinct varieties but all 

 have proved to be identical with the old sort. The name Smock Cling 

 appears in peach-literature but whether the peach was distinct we cannot 

 say. Years after the introduction of Smock a peach was put out under 

 the name " Beers Smock." The differences claimed are that Beers Smock 

 runs larger and is better in quality than Smock. All descriptions of the 

 two sorts, however, are so nearly identical that we believe that the two 

 names are given to the same peach. In 1862 the American Pomological 



