64 THE PEACHES OF NEW YORK 



a native. In the fruit-areas of the United States, after two centuries of 

 cultivation, though sometimes a luxury and the crop often a speculation, 

 the peach is so perennially plentiful that it is to be found, fresh, canned or 

 evaporated, in every home in the land and the species is represented in 

 American pomologies by over looo sorts which have originated in this 

 country. 



However, in tracing the history of the peach from China to America, 

 we have not wholly shown the range of adaptability of this frtiit The 

 peach has become adapted to the clear skies, strong light, long seasons and 

 hot climate of northern Africa, where, under modified cultural treatment, 

 it is a common fruit in Egypt ^ and the other states bordering on the 

 Mediterranean. It thrives on the islands in the Mediterranean and on 

 those of the North Temperate zone almost to the tropics in the Atlantic 

 and the Pacific, as the Azores, Canaries, West Indies and Hawaiian group. 

 As long ago as 1649 the Azores were famous for peaches and Colonel 

 Norwood, author of.^ Voyage to Virginia,^ in a gustatory reminiscence 

 tells us that they were of so good quality that he " did not fail to visit 

 and revisit them in the dead of night to satisfy a ravenous appetite nature 

 has too prodigally given me for that species." In the sub-tropic climate 

 of Guadeloupe Islands, French West Indies, there is a peach peculiar to 

 the region differing in shape, flavor and in heat-resisting qualities from 

 the common run of this fruit.^ 



The Aryan race has taken the peach across the equator in the path- 

 ways of discovery, conquest and civilization, and made it a favorite fniit 

 in the gardens and orchards of the South Temperate as well as in those of 

 the North Temperate zone. In the colonies of South Africa the peach 

 seems to be as common as any deciduous fruit, native sorts being planted 

 with those from Europe and America. Of the Transvaal Yellow Peach, 

 R. A. Davis, horticulturist of the colony, says:* "Generally speaking, 

 it is the fruit most commonly grown in the Transvaal, and it may safely 

 be said that where it will not grow no other peach stands much chance of 

 thriving. The writer has seen them flourishing by the side of the rail- 

 road amongst granite boulders, the result of a chance pit thrown from the 

 window of a railway carriage. It is also extensively grown as a hedge 



'An interesting account of peach-culture in Egypt is to be found in i4gr7 Jour, of Egypt 3: Pt. 2: 

 134-137- 1914- 



'A Voyage to FtVginio Force's Hist. Tracts 3: No. 5:10. 

 ' U. S. D. A. Invent, of Seeds and Plants No. 32:14. 1914. 

 * Transvaal Agr. Journal No. 10, 3 1336. 1905. 



