4 
Glen St. Mary Nurseries. 
varieties of individual merit is already long, and to continue varieties which are practically the same as others 
on the list is cumbersome and confusing. For instance. Barr's Early, Barr’s Late, June Beauty and Queen 
of the South, which we have left out, do not differ materially from Bidwell’s Early or Bidwell’s Late, which 
we have retained. For similar reasons, a number of other varieties have been omitted. 
SELECTING VARIETIES. 
Unless the variety planted is adapted to the locality, the most favorable Peach £oil and other natural 
conditions, with the most generous treatment, will not bring success. This is a peculiarity of the Peach ; 
where one variety succeeds another fails. Speaking of the Peach generally throughout the country, while 
there are a few varieties that can be successfully planted over a more or less widely extended area, most of 
the varieties are very limited in their adaptability ; hence the innumerable varieties propagated. Take, for 
instance, the Elberta, an ideal Peach where it thrives; in West Florida it is one of the best, in this part of 
the state it does not succeed, while throughout the Peninsula it is a failure. 
Best Peaches for East and South Florida . 
The Peaches grown in other Peach regions of the country, and which are known to pomologists as the 
Persian race, proved a complete failure in Peninsular Florida. As stated above, not many years ago the 
only Peaches we grew were native seedlings, not of the Persian race, but having a long ancestry of their 
own, and sometimes called the Spanish race ; but these ripened too late in season to be profitable for ship¬ 
ment to Northern markets. Later we obtained the Honey from China, a new type, ripening earlier. Then 
came the Peen-to from the Eist Indies, ripening still earlier, and destined to give the section of Florida of 
which we are speaking a Peach that met all requirements. This peculiar-shaped fruit, a good variety itself 
for South Florida, has been improved upon, by selection, and by crossing with Spanish and Honey types, 
until we now have derived therefrom a race of Peaches of superior merit and earliness, and peculiarly adapted 
to this soil and climate. 
While all varieties of this semi-tropical race of Peaches are early, as compared with other Peaches, there 
is a difference in their time of ripening; they naturally fall into two classes ; namely, the very early, which 
begin in South Florida by the middle of May ; and the early varieties, which follow the former, but still 
reach market before any considerable quantity of good Peaches from more northern sections come in. In 
South Florida, growers plant more largely of the very early kinds. At Glen St. Mary we find the early varie¬ 
ties—those that follow the very early sorts —even more profitable than the latter. And this is true throughout 
this part of the state. As so many planters confine themselves to the earliest kinds, with nothing to follow, 
there is an interval after the very early varieties from Florida have been marketed, and before Peaches from 
other sections come in, when the market is comparatively bare and prices go up. Again, a great deal of 
immature and inferior fruit is rushed in early, tending to depress prices, while that which follows the first 
few weeks of the season usually averages of better quality. 
Very Early Varieties. Of this class, the Peen-to has proved very valuable under certain conditions. 
The objection to it is its flat shape (this “ uniqueness ” some consider an advantage), and the fact that it 
requires very high fertilizing and culture to prevent its ripening unevenly and with a bitter tang. The same 
is true of other flat varieties produced from Peen-to seeds. There are a number of very early varieties, some 
of local and others of more or less general reputation, seedlings of the Peen-to, which are not flat, but of the 
ordinary Peach shape. These are much alike, Bidwell’s Early being, perhaps, the best as well as the most 
widely known. It has proved one of the most profitable in localities where the bloom is not liable to be 
injured by late frosts. 
Our own experience and observation leads us to esteem the Waldo most highly of the very early sorts. 
This remarkable freestone has all the good qualities of the foregoing ; it is as vigorous as the parent, Peen-to, 
bearing with certainty and prolificness ; while it ripens as early ns the earliest, it blooms a month later than 
other very early varieties of either the Peen-to or Bidwell’s Early class. This is an immense advantage in 
any locality where late frosts occur. At Glen St. Mary (North Florida) it is the only one of the very early 
varieties of the Peen-to family that can be depended upon for a crop. 
Early Varieties. In speaking of early varieties, it should be borne in mind that we refer to the varieties 
which follow the very early sorts. There are a number of varieties, Peen-to seedlings of the ordinary Peach 
shape, which ripen after the varieties of the Bidwell’s Early class. Not including the Angel, the most valu¬ 
able of these is Bidwell’s Late, which, while not a late bloomer, is a sure bearer further north than the others. 
The Angel, however, must be placed at the head of the early varieties of the Peen-to type, for South Florida 
as well as farther north. It is a freestone of great vigor and superior quality, and blooms a month later than 
the others. The Angel and Waldo alone of the Peen-to race possess this valuable characteristic of late bloom¬ 
ing. Each successive year in the hundreds of orchards where it has been planted throughout the state, as 
well as in our own grounds, the Angel makes good all that was claimed for it when we introduced it several 
years ago. 
The five new varieties mentioned at length above are among the best of the early kinds. The Imperial 
and Early Cream are also worthy of special notice. They are seedlings of the Honey, a decided improve¬ 
ment on the parent, and succeed throughout a much wider zone. 
