PERSIC A, PEACH TREE. 5 



At the center of the fruit there is a large, woody, & extremely hard pit (Fig. 1 0.) 

 that's slightly flattened on the sides. Along one edge of it there's a prominent ridge (Fig. 

 12.), & along the other edge (Fig. 1 1 .) there's quite a deep groove that allows one to open 

 the pit easily with a knife blade. Depending on the kind of peach tree, the exterior of the 

 pit is brown, light gray, or dark red, rather roughly creviced or fissured with fairly deep, 

 irregular grooves. It terminates at one end in a fairly long, sharp point & at the other end 

 in a recess (Fig. 10.) where the fibers of the stalk are inserted. Its inside (Fig. 13.) is 

 hollow & very smooth. It contains a bitter, oval-shaped kernel (Fig. 14.) that terminates 

 in a point at one end. It's slightly flattened, consists of two lobes, & has a brown 

 covering. 



Those are the general features of peach trees. They're so much like those of 

 almond trees that Linnaeus included both trees in the same genus with the same name, 

 Amygdalus. However some quite significant differences allow one to distinguish peach 

 trees from almond trees, but they don't at all change the accepted nomenclature. The 

 particular features that characterize the types & varieties of peach trees will be detailed in 

 the descriptions below. We will limit ourselves to the types that are well characterized & 

 to their best-known varieties. 



TYPES AND VARIETIES. 



I. PEACH TREE with large flowers and early small white fruit. 

 White EARLY PEACH. (PL 11) 



This peach tree grows quite large in certain soils where it's especially well 

 adapted, but it's only a medium-sized tree in ordinary soil. It puts out few branches, but 

 it's quite fruitful. 



The shoots are slender & are green like the leaves. 



