our forefathers brought the peach over in our colonial days, the 
great peach industry of Georgia is based on direct importations of 
fine varieties from China. Some of the finest Chinese peaches 
such as theFei reach a pound in weight. Very few varieties come 
to our markets as compared with the thousands which are known, 
but of these, those “clings” from Georgia rank as the choicest in 
flavor. The peach country of China abounds in legends concern- 
ing the peach tree, the beautiful peach-blossom color being sym- 
bolical of unchastity. Hence peach trees are seldom planted near 
the windows of the apartments of the women, for fear that the 
wives and daughters might develop the dreaded “peach-blossom 
heart.” Many peach orchards with white flowers abound, thus 
eliminating the dreaded danger from the pink-flowered sort. In 
another ancient legend of the Rip Van Winkle type, youth is re- 
ferred to as the peach-blossom time of life. 
Like the wild peach, the wild apricot is not an inviting fruit 
except in its bright coloration. The wild apricots of Persia, China 
and Korea are small and very sour. The apricot, by the way, is 
regarded by certain church authorities as the “apple” of thebible, 
apples being unknown to the ancient Hebrews. In Syria at the pres- 
ent day apricots are dried in large quantities and pressed to- 
gether in sheets 2 to 3 feet long resembling a blacksmith’s apron. 
These sheets are known as “Moon of the Faithful.” Imagine 
occidentals using such poetic names for such prosaic diet! In 
another dried form, they are more appropriately referred to as 
“mishmush”. The great apricot orchards of the world now be- 
long to California, from which over 300 cars of fresh fruit, and 
thousands of tons of canned and dried fruit are shipped annually. 
Fruits having both plum and apricot characters similar to those 
called “plumcots” by Burbank are known in various parts of 
Asia. 
The forms in which wild or semi-wild plums occur are legion. 
Most authorities regard three species as largely responsible for 
our present day types. The common European plum comes from 
a thorny wild type common in western Asia and Europe with dark 
purple fruits, slightly larger than a good sized pea. To this form 
we are said to owe the prune varieties. Most of the fresh Cali- 
fornia plums not purple in color, are from a Chinese-Japanese 
wild species. Many of our own inland domestic plums are selec- 
tions from our native wild plums, a type largely without meaty 
fruit, but described by one fruit expert as “bags of flavored sugar 
water.” Various hybrids exist between all three types as well as 
with still other types. There are about 300 varieties of these 
native plums cultivated. Practically a seedless variety of prune 
exists. In California, where most of the plum orchards are 
devoted to the prune type, over 6,500,000 trees have been planted. 
Curious flat-shaped plums occur in China, as well as varieties with 
fruit that can be kept for several months. Plums, though a cos- 
mopolitan fruit within reach of all, have, curiously enough, never 
been highly appreciated by either the white or yellow races. 
3 
