The Be3innin3 of a New Era in Peach 
and Nectarine Varieties 
T1 le old varieties of peaches such as 
Greensboro, Carman, Champion, and 
Early Crawford no longer meet modern 
requirements. The demand today is for 
large, red all over, firm, attractive fruits 
that are as sleek and trim as a racehorse. 
Fruits blanketed to their “chins” in fuzz 
or peaches which are hard today and 
mush tomorrow are not wanted. The 
public wants peaches first of all that look 
appetizing and Inscions and then prove 
to be as good as they look. 
Since 1914, the New Jersey Agricultural 
Exi)eriment Station at New Brunswick 
has been condneting extensive breeding 
work with peaches to obtain varieties 
that will meet the modern public demand 
and to replace old varieties like Greens¬ 
boro, Carman, Champion, Slappey, and 
the Crawfords which are no longer profit¬ 
able in New Jersey. 
Beginning in 1925, trees of named 
varieties from this breeding work were 
available for commercial planting. 
A recent survey (1938) by the New 
Jersey State Department of Agriculture 
reveals that in a period of about eleven 
years one of the New Jersey Station intro¬ 
ductions, namely. Golden Jubilee, is now 
the third ranking variety in the state in 
total number of trees of all ages. It is ex¬ 
ceeded in number of trees only by Elherta 
and J. H. Hale. Goldeneast, another new 
introduction, is the fifth leading variety 
in the state and two others, namely, Sinn- 
niercrest and Eclipse are included in the 
first twelve. The latest trends in the popu¬ 
larity of varieties are, however, indicated 
by the number of trees of the different 
varieties that have been planted within 
the past three years. The recent state 
survey shows that seven out of the ten 
leading varieties were bred by the New 
Jersey Station. 
The first varieties bred, named, and 
introduced by the Station about 1925, 
including Rosebud, Marigold, Sunbeam, 
Oriole, Golden Jubilee, Cumberland, 
Eclipse, and Amhergem as a group, far 
exceeded the old standard varieties which 
they replaced. Varieties which are now 
being named and introduced during what 
may he termed the second decade of 
breeding show a marked advance over 
the previous introductions. This is espe¬ 
cially true with regard to fruit size, firm¬ 
ness of flesh, slow rate of ripening, high 
edible quality and reduction in fuzziness. 
The new varieties such as Triogem, 
Golden Globe and Goldeneast not only 
rival the Crawfords in quality as grown 
in New Jersey but exceed them in size, 
firmness of flesh and all around attrac¬ 
tiveness for modern markets. It was un¬ 
believable a few years ago that such high 
quality peaches could he developed that 
would ripen in New Jersey as early as 
August 1st. 
The New Jersey Peach Council 
The actual breeding of a new variety 
of peach is the first step in the improve¬ 
ment of saleable fruit for the market. 
The second step is the propagation and 
distribution of the variety true-to-name 
to practical growers, and its successful 
commercial culture and marketing. 
The New Jersey Agricultural Experi¬ 
ment Station and the New Jersey State 
Horticultural Society realized in 1928 
that some cooperative organization was 
necessary to insure to the peach growers 
of the state the practical benefits of the 
peach breeding work. An organization of 
commercial growers was therefore formed 
in 1928 and incorporated under the name 
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