THE PROBLEM OF VARIETIES. 59 



any region that may be under consideration. The exact time at 

 which a variety will ripen in a given region frequently determines 

 primarily whether it can be grown profitably there. For instance, 

 in case of the Elberta peach the problem in the further planting 

 of it is not to find localities or regions in winch it does well, but 

 rather to select suitable sections for peach culture in winch it will 

 ripen at a period when the markets are not already stocked with 

 fruit from other regions. 



Again, in the case of the peach specialist who desires to have fruit 

 ripening continuously throughout the " peach season/' from early 

 to late, it becomes a critical matter and one of great importance in 

 many ways to select varieties which ripen at such times that he 

 will have no break in the continuity of his harvest. A break in the 

 sequence of ripening may result in more fruit than he can handle 

 with Ins regular crews at certain times and not enough work to keep 

 them profit ably engaged at other periods. 



In connection with these investigations 70 or more different 

 varieties of peaches have been reported. Many of these are grown 

 in perhaps but a single orchard, while scarcely a dozen sorts are 

 really of commercial importance in this region. Among the varieties 

 that are produced in considerable quantities the Elberta is relatively 

 of so much greater importance than any of the others that it may 

 almost be said to constitute the peach industry of the Ozarks. 



While many of the earlier varieties reach a good degree of perfec- 

 tion in favorable seasons, the prices received for them are not 

 sufficient, as a rule, to render their culture regularly profitable, 

 except to the extent that they may be demanded for local and 

 near-by markets. Prior to the Elberta season in the Ozarks the 

 markets are usually supplied with peaches (largely the Elberta) 

 from other regions in which they ripen earlier than they do here. 



By the time the Elberta season is reached in the Ozarks, however, 

 fruit from the earlier ripening districts lias largely passed out of the 

 markets, thus making a good demand for the Ozark-grown Elbert as. 



The following brief notes regarding the more important sorts will 

 serve to indicate the principal characteristics in their adaptability to 

 this region and their relative value under Ozark conditions. 1 As the 

 Elberta is by far the most important peach variety grown in the 

 Ozark region, the ripening periods of many of the other sorts named 

 in the discussion are given with reference to that variety. (See 

 " Elberta," p. 60.) 



An abbreviated description of the varieties discussed is given in 

 Table V (p. 64). 



1 For dates of ripening of the varieties referred to in the following discussion, for which the season is not 

 mentioned, see the respective varietal names in Table VIII (pp. 80 to 80), columns headed "Date fiist 

 picking" and "Date last picking." 

 27.", 



