LUTHER BURBANK 



white skin with numerous beautiful dots and 

 shadings of light and dark crimson, and the flesh 

 is pale lemon yellow, suggesting a blend of the 

 deeper tint of the Muir peach and the white flesh 

 of the nectarine. In flavor the fruit has an in- 

 describably delicious quality that .in my estimate 

 surpasses that of all other peaches. But it is too 

 soft for long shipment, although having all the 

 desirable qualities of a home fruit. The Opulent 

 has been acknowledged by all who have tested it 

 to be the best in quality of any peach ever pro- 

 duced. 



The tree is unusually hardy. It has been culti- 

 vated as far north as Canada and has proved able 

 to endure a temperature of 40 degrees below zero, 

 bearing a full crop after other peaches in the same 

 locality were destroyed by the severity of the 

 winter. 



Among the numerous seedlings from the Opu- 

 lent, some are white nectarines pure and simple, 

 some are red or pink nectarines, and some closely 

 resemble the Muir peach. Yet here and there one 

 differs from any known variety of peach or nec- 

 tarine. 



Similar results have been obtained in a subse- 

 quent series of experiments, in which the white 

 nectarine was crossed with the early Crawford 

 and peaches of other varieties. These crosses pro- 



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