Chapter V: Leading Varieties of Peaches (1)

ADMIRAL DEWEY

=1.= _Ga. Sta. Bul._ =42=:232. 1898. =2.= _Mich. Sta. Sp. Bul._
=30=:14. 1905. =3.= Albertson-Hobbs _Cat._ 29. 1906.

_Admiral._ =4.= Budd-Hansen _Am. Hort. Man._ =2=:335. 1903.

_Dewey._ =5.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 36. 1909. =6.= Waugh _Am.
Peach Orch._ 201. 1913.

Perhaps the peach most of all desired nowadays by peach-growers is a very early, yellow-fleshed freestone. For years Admiral Dewey and Triumph, both seedlings of Alexander, have been grown to fill this place and both, in the main, fail. Admiral Dewey, while early, yellow in flesh and good in quality, is not always a freestone and has several other defects which make it nearly worthless as a commercial fruit. Thus, though the trees are very productive, the peaches run small, are so heavily pubescent as to be unattractive, are very susceptible to brown-rot and are often disfigured with the peach-scab. The trees, too, suffer much from leaf-curl. With Alexander as the parent, the trees should be hardy, and from behavior elsewhere, must be so rated; but they have not proved exceptionally so on our grounds. While nowhere largely planted, Admiral Dewey is often set, as no doubt it should be, for an early peach in the home orchard. Of the two early sorts, this variety stands shipment rather better than Triumph. The varieties are of about the same season, both coming a week or thereabouts later than the well-known Alexander.

Admiral Dewey was grown from a seed of Alexander by J. D. Husted, Vineyard, Georgia, in the latter part of the Nineteenth Century. It was introduced in 1899 by Mr. Husted and has since been grown commercially east and west, north and south. The American Pomological Society placed the variety on its fruit-list in 1909 as Dewey but the full name bestowed to commemorate the great Admiral should, we think, be retained.

Tree large, vigorous, upright-spreading, hardy, very
productive; trunk thick, smooth; branches stocky, reddish-brown
mingled with light ash-gray; branchlets slender, long,
olive-green overspread with dark red, glossy, smooth, glabrous,
with numerous lenticels, raised near the base.

Leaves six inches long, one and one-half inches wide, folded
upward, oval to obovate-lanceolate, thin; upper surface
olive-green, smooth except near the midrib; lower surface light
grayish-green; margin finely serrate, tipped with reddish-brown
glands; petiole one-fourth inch long, with one to seven large,
reniform, greenish-yellow glands variable in position.

Flower-buds small, short, conical, pubescent, plump, free;
blossoms appear in mid-season; flowers pink, one and one-half
inches across, well distributed, usually in twos; pedicels
short, thick, glabrous, green; calyx-tube dull reddish-green,
orange-colored within, campanulate, glabrous; calyx-lobes
short, broad, obtuse, glabrous within, slightly pubescent
without; petals round-ovate, tapering to short, broad claws red
at the base; filaments one-half inch long, shorter than the
petals; pistil pubescent at the ovary, equal to the stamens in
length.

Fruit matures early; two and one-fourth inches long, two and
one-half inches wide, round-oblate, slightly compressed; cavity
deep, wide, abrupt, with tender skin; suture shallow, becoming
deeper at the extremities; apex roundish or flattened, with
mucronate tip variable in size; color deep orange-yellow,
blushed with dark red, indistinctly splashed and mottled;
pubescence heavy; skin thin, tender, adherent to the pulp;
flesh yellow, tinged with red near the pit, juicy, stringy,
tender, melting, sweet but sprightly; good in quality;
stone semi-free to free, one and one-fourth inches long,
seven-eighths inch wide, oval to obovate, flattened at the
base, tapering to a short point, with grooved surfaces; ventral
suture deeply grooved along the sides, wide; dorsal suture a
deep, wide groove.

ALEXANDER

=1.= _Cult. & Count. Gent._ =38=:598. 1873. =2.= _Mich. Hort.
Soc. Rpt._ 263, 264. 1874. =3.= _Gard. Mon._ =17=:367, 368.
1875. =4.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 28. 1877. =5.= _Gard. Mon._
=19=:147, 303. 1877. =6.= Hogg _Fruit Man._ 436. 1884. =7.=
_Mich. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 424. 1886. =8.= _Tex. Sta. Bul._
=39=:809, figs. 5 & 9. 1896. =9.= _Ont. Fr. Exp. Sta. Rpt._
=6=:21 fig. 1899. =10.= Fulton _Peach Cult._ 173. 1908. =11.=
Waugh _Am. Peach Orch._ 198. 1913. =12.= _U. S. D. A. Plant
Immigrants_ =117=:958. 1916.

_Alexander's Early._ =13.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt._ 75, 76. 1873.
=14.= _Horticulturist_ =28=:224. 1873.

For nearly a half-century Alexander has been one of the notable early peaches on this continent, hardiness and vigor of tree contributing with earliness to make the variety popular. Unfortunately, there are few fruit-characters to commend Alexander; the peaches run small, the flesh clings to the stone and is so tender that the two can be separated only with difficulty, and the quality is poor. Added to the defects of the fruit the trees have the grave fault of being unproductive. The fruits, too, are very susceptible to brown-rot but to offset this weakness, the trees are more resistant to leaf-curl than those of the average variety. Alexander has been more or less grown in every peach-region on this continent, sometimes attaining considerable commercial importance, but is now widely cultivated only on the Pacific Slope, and even here it is evidently destined to pass out before many years in the competition with newer and better sorts. It is often confused with Amsden though the two are quite distinct.

Alexander originated soon after the Civil War on the farm of O. A. Alexander, Mount Pulaski, Illinois. Since 1877 it has been on the fruit-list of the American Pomological Society. It has been the parent of a score or more of meritorious extra-early peaches.

Tree large, vigorous, upright-spreading, hardy, unproductive;
trunk stocky, smooth; branches reddish-brown overlaid with
light ash-gray; branchlets medium to long, olive-green overlaid
on the sunny side with dark red, smooth, glabrous, with
conspicuous, large, raised lenticels.

Leaves six inches long, one and one-half inches wide, folded
upward, oval-lanceolate, thin, leathery; upper surface dark
green, smooth; lower surface light grayish-green; margin finely
serrate, tipped with dark red glands; petiole three-eighths
inch long, glandless or with one to four small, usually
globose, greenish-yellow glands tipped with red, variable in
position.

Flower-buds oblong-conic, pubescent, usually free; blooming
season early; flowers pale pink, one and seven-sixteenths
inches across, in well-distributed clusters; pedicels very
short, thick, glabrous, greenish; calyx-tube dull green, light
yellowish within, campanulate, glabrous; calyx-lobes short,
broad, acute, glabrous within, slightly pubescent without;
petals roundish, often broadly notched near the base, tapering
to short, broad claws marked with red; filaments nearly
one-half inch long; pistil pubescent at the ovary, equal to the
stamens in length.

Fruit matures very early; two and one-eighth inches long, two
and one-fourth inches wide, round, slightly compressed, with
sides nearly equal; cavity deep, abrupt or slightly flaring;
suture shallow; apex depressed, ending in a mucronate or
small, mamelon, recurved tip; color greenish-white becoming
creamy-white, blushed and blotched with dark red, mottled;
pubescence short; skin separates readily from the pulp; flesh
greenish-white, juicy, stringy, sweet, very mild; fair to good
in quality; stone clinging, one and one-fourth inches long,
five-eighths inch thick, oval, plump, faintly winged, abruptly
pointed at the apex, with slightly pitted surfaces and with a
few grooves; ventral suture deeply grooved along the sides,
bulged; dorsal suture deeply furrowed, faintly winged.

ALTON

=1.= _Ill. Hort Soc. Rpt._ 181. 1898. =2.= _Rural N. Y._
=60=:726, 774. 1901. =3.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 35. 1909. =4.=
_N. Y. State Fr. Gr. Assoc. Rpt._ 21. 1912.

_Minnie._ =5.= _Mich. Sta. Bul._ =118=:30. 1895. =6.= _Tex.
Sta. Bul._ =39=:813. 1896. =7.= _Ill. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 53.
1896. =8.= _Mich. Sta. Bul._ =169=:220. 1899. =9.= Budd-Hansen
_Am. Hort. Man._ =2=:351, 352. 1903.

Alton is everywhere held in high esteem as an early mid-season, white-fleshed, semi-free peach. It merits the esteem bestowed upon it by virtue of large size, handsome appearance and high quality of the peaches and hardiness and productiveness in the trees. It ripens a little earlier than Champion, long the favorite white-fleshed peach of its season, does not rot so readily when brown-rot is rife and hangs longer on the tree in good condition. It is not, however, quite so choicely good in quality as Champion, nor, on the Station grounds at least, are the trees quite as productive. Other faults of Alton are that leaf-curl takes heavy toll on unsprayed trees, the blossoms open so early as often to be caught by spring frosts, and the peaches show great variation in size and shape and even in texture and flavor. The accompanying cut shows the beauty of the outside but unfortunately on the grounds of this Station the variety is almost a clingstone so that the stone could not be separated to permit photographing the creamy-white flesh, red at pit, and, all in all, most tempting to the eye. Alton seems to be most at home in the Middle West and South and is not a familiar inhabitant of eastern orchards as a commercial product.

This variety originated with T. V. Munson, Denison, Texas, a quarter-century ago and was introduced by him under the name Minnie. By some it is supposed to have come from Alton, Illinois, and to have been introduced as Emma but this is an error. Munson's Minnie was tested at the Illinois Experiment Station from which place Stark Brothers Nursery Company, Louisiana, Missouri, received it and propagated it under the name Alton. In 1909 the American Pomological Society placed the variety upon its list of fruits as Alton, a name which usage makes preferable to the first one, Minnie.

Tree large, vigorous, spreading, hardy, medium in
productiveness; trunk very stocky; branches thick,
reddish-bronze overlaid with light ash-gray; branchlets
slender, long, olive-green mingled with dull red, smooth,
glabrous, with many small, inconspicuous lenticels.

Leaves six and one-fourth inches long, one and three-fourths
inches wide, folded upward, oval-lanceolate, broad; upper
surface dark green, rugose at the base; lower surface light
grayish-green; margin finely serrate, tipped with dark glands;
petiole three-eighths inch long, with two to four reniform
glands, greenish-yellow, tipped with dull red, variable in
position.

Flower-buds small, short, conical, usually appressed, heavily
pubescent; season of bloom early; flowers pale pink, nearly
two inches across; borne usually singly; pedicels very short,
glabrous, green; calyx-tube dull reddish-green, tinged with
greenish-yellow within, campanulate, glabrous; calyx-lobes
acute to slightly obtuse, glabrous within, heavily pubescent
without; petals roundish-oval, with blunt apex, frequently
notched near the base, tapering to narrow claws; filaments
one-half inch long; pistil pubescent at the ovary, as long as
the stamens.

Fruit matures in early mid-season; two and five-sixteenths
inches long, two and five-eighths inches thick, round-oblate,
slightly compressed, with unequal halves; cavity abrupt or
slightly flaring; suture of medium depth; apex roundish,
mucronate; color creamy-white overspread with dull red, dotted
and splashed with carmine; pubescence thin, short; skin tough,
adhering slightly to the pulp; flesh white, juicy, stringy,
tender, pleasantly subacid; fair in quality; stone semi-cling,
one and three-eighths inches long, seven-eighths inch wide,
obovate, plump at the apex, winged near the base, with pitted
surfaces; ventral suture deeply grooved along the sides,
narrow; dorsal suture deeply grooved.

ARP

=1.= _N. Y. State Fr. Gr. Assoc. Rpt._ 24. 1913.

_Arp Beauty._ =2.= _N. J. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 100. 1911. =3.= _N.
Y. State Fr. Gr. Assoc. Rpt._ 213. 1913. =4.= _N. Y. Sta. Bul._
=364=:183. 1913.

Arp is the earliest good yellow peach. This is the chief reason for its cultivation though it has other good characters beside earliness to give it a place among yellow peaches. At this Station the trees are healthy, vigorous, productive and hardier in bud than the average, the buds having withstood the cold of two test winters. The round-oval shape and shallow suture give it a pleasing appearance of rotundity. To its shapeliness, add a skin creamy-yellow, heavily blushed with red and covered with short, thick pubescence with the sheen of velvet, and you have a beautiful peach--well shown in the color-plate. The flesh is light yellow, firm, juicy, sweet, rich, and of excellent quality, but unfortunately clings rather tenaciously to the stone. The season of Arp is from a month to five weeks earlier than Elberta and for so early a peach is remarkably long. It is somewhat susceptible to brown-rot. We do not know from experience how the fruit will ship but believe it will stand the wear and tear of transportation and markets as well as any of the standard peaches. Arp ought to be in every home orchard. Attention is called to the fact that the June Elberta in the hands of some growers is Arp.

Arp originated with C. P. Orr, Arp, Texas, about 1897. Elberta is supposed to have been one of the parents while the other may have been a peach of the Indian type. The variety was introduced by the originator about 1902.

Tree rather large, vigorous, spreading, hardy, productive;
trunk stocky, intermediate in smoothness; branches thick,
smooth, reddish-bronze overlaid with light ash-gray; branchlets
with internodes intermediate in length, pinkish-red mingled
with green, smooth, glabrous, with many smallish lenticels.

Leaves six and one-fourth inches long, one and one-half inches
wide, folded upward, oval-lanceolate, sometimes inclined to
obovate, thin, somewhat leathery; upper surface dark green;
lower surface grayish-green; margin finely serrate, tipped with
reddish-brown glands; petiole three-eighths inch long, with
one to three large, reniform, greenish-yellow or reddish-brown
glands usually at the base of the leaf.

Flower-buds intermediate in size and length, plump,
oblong-conic, pubescent, appressed; blossoms opening in
mid-season; flowers light pink, one and three-fourths inches
across; borne seldom in twos; pedicels short, glabrous, green;
calyx-tube dark reddish-green, dull orange within, campanulate,
glabrous; calyx-lobes long, medium in width, obtuse to
acute, glabrous within, heavily pubescent without; petals
round-obovate, usually broadly notched on each side of the
base, tapering to short, narrow claws; filaments one-half inch
long; pistil glabrous, pubescent at the ovary, equal to the
stamens in length.

Fruit matures early; two and one-sixteenth inches long, two
and one-eighth inches wide, oval to round, compressed, the
halves unequal; cavity medium to deep, wide, abrupt; suture
shallow, deeper at the base; apex roundish or depressed,
with a mucronate tip; color greenish-yellow changing to deep
yellow, heavily blushed with red, indistinctly striped, with
conspicuous, large dots; pubescence short, stiff, thick;
skin thick, tough, adhering to the pulp; flesh light yellow
mingled with faint stripes of red radiating from the pit,
juicy, stringy, tender, sweet, highly flavored; very good in
quality; stone clinging, one and three-sixteenths inches long,
three-fourths inch wide, narrow-oval, plump, with short, acute
apex, the surfaces pitted and with few short grooves; ventral
suture slightly winged, rather widely furrowed; dorsal suture a
deep, narrow groove.

BELLE

=1.= _Ga. Sta. Bul._ =42=:233. 1898. =2.= _Am. Gard._ =21=:852.
1900. =3.= _Ga. Sta. Rpt._ =13=:308. 1900. =4.= _Am. Pom. Soc.
Cat._ 35. 1909.

_Belle of Georgia._ =5.= _Am. Gard._ =17=:67. 1896. =6.= _Ohio
Sta. Bul._ =170=:172, 173 fig. 1906.

_Georgia._ =7.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 33. 1899. =8.= _Del. Sta.
Rpt._ =13=:99, 100 fig. 5. 1901.

Belle elicits praise from all who know it because of the great beauty of its fruits. At its best it is one of the glories of the peach-orchard, the fruits being large, trim in contour, creamy-white, with a beautiful crimson cheek--truly voluptuous in form and color. The color-plate--made in a poor season--falls far short of doing the fruits justice in size and art cannot depict the soft tints of red and cream which make Belle so beautiful. The fruits are as enticing to the eye inwardly as outwardly, the white flesh being delicately marbled, tinted with red at the pit and the flesh and pit usually part cleanly. Unfortunately, appearance misrepresents quality; for the variety, while good, falls short in flavor, and the flesh is stringy so that it must be rated as not above the average for its type. The trees are large, open-headed, a little straggling, fast-growing and hardy, though, like most of its type, easy prey to leaf-curl. Belle prefers a southern climate and in the South is often a good commercial sort but in New York is grown only for local markets and home use, hardly equalling Champion as a white-fleshed peach for distant markets.

Belle came from a seed of Chinese Cling planted in 1870 by L. A. Rumph, Marshallville, Georgia. The other parent is unknown but it is supposed to have been Oldmixon Free, a tree of which stood near the Chinese Cling tree. The variety came to notice about the same time as Elberta and has been thought by some to be a seedling of Elberta. The American Pomological Society listed Belle in its catalog in 1899 as Georgia but in 1909 changed the name to Belle and it is so designated in horticultural treatises but popularly it is "Belle of Georgia."

Tree large, vigorous, spreading, open-topped, hardy, very
productive; trunk thick; branches stocky, smooth, reddish-brown
covered with light ash-gray; branchlets thick, medium to long,
olive-green overlaid with dark red, smooth, glabrous, with
numerous conspicuous, rather small lenticels.

Leaves five and one-half inches long, one and one-half inches
wide, folded upward, oblong-lanceolate, somewhat leathery;
upper surface dark green, smooth; lower surface light
grayish-green; margin coarsely serrate, tipped with dark red
glands; petiole three-eighths inch long, with two to six
large, reniform or globose, greenish-yellow glands variable in
position.

Flower-buds large, long, oval, very plump, strongly pubescent,
usually appressed; blooming season early; flowers pale pink
but deeper in color along the edges, one and three-eighths
inches across, often in twos; pedicels long, thick;
calyx-tube dull reddish-green, yellowish within, campanulate,
glabrous; calyx-lobes medium in length and width, acute to
obtuse, glabrous within, heavily pubescent without; petals
roundish-oval, tapering to short, broad claws red at the base;
filaments nearly one-half inch long; pistil pubescent at the
ovary, longer than the stamens.

Fruit matures in mid-season; two and one-sixteenth inches long,
two and one-eighth inches wide, roundish-oval, often bulged
near the apex, somewhat compressed, with halves nearly equal;
cavity abrupt or somewhat flaring, red, with tender skin;
suture shallow, deepening toward the apex; apex roundish to
slightly pointed, with a mucronate tip; color greenish-white
changing to creamy-white, blushed with red, with faint stripes
and splashes of darker red, mottled; pubescence short, fine,
rather thick; skin thin, tender, adherent to the pulp; flesh
white, tinged with red at the pit and with radiating rays of
red, juicy, stringy, tender, sweet, mild; good in quality;
stone semi-free to free, one and one-eighth inches long,
thirteen-sixteenths inch wide, oval, bulged near the apex,
blunt at the base, with short, sharp point at the apex, with
deeply-pitted surfaces; ventral suture deeply furrowed along
the sides, wide; dorsal suture a narrow groove.

BEQUETTE FREE

=1.= _Mich. Sta. Bul._ =118=:32. 1895. =2.= _Am. Pom. Soc.
Cat._ 35. 1909.

_Bequett Free._ =3.= _U. S. D. A. Pom. Rpt._ 41. 1895. =4.=
_Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 32. 1899. =5.= Budd-Hansen _Am. Hort.
Man._ =2=:337. 1903.

_Becquette Free._ =6.= _Tex. Sta. Bul._ =39=:806. 1896. =7.=
_Del. Sta. Rpt._ =13=:91. 1901.

As it grows at this Station, Bequette Free makes a favorable impression because of the flavor and attractive appearance of the fruit. It is not a new variety, however, and the fact that it seems to have been rather widely and well tested without receiving general commendation except on the Pacific Slope is against its having a place in the list of desirable peaches for the Eastern States. The trees are fast-growing, very vigorous, hardy and densely clothed with foliage but cannot be called fruitful and are, possibly, a little too susceptible to leaf-curl. The color-plate shows the fruit to be a little more irregular than it is in nature.

This variety originated about 1860 in a seedling orchard of Benjamin Bequette, Visalia, California. J. H. Thomas of the same place named the sort and first propagated it about 1877. In 1899 the American Pomological Society added the variety to its list of fruits under the name Bequett Free but in 1909 corrected the spelling to Bequette Free.

Tree large, vigorous, spreading, open-topped, hardy, rather
unproductive; trunk thick, smooth; branches stocky, smooth,
reddish-brown mingled with light ash-gray; branchlets slender,
long, olive-green mingled with dark red, smooth, glabrous, with
numerous large and small, inconspicuous, raised lenticels.

Leaves very numerous, six and three-fourths inches long, one
and three-fourths inches wide, folded upward, oval-lanceolate
inclined to broad-obovate, leathery; upper surface very
dark green, smooth or slightly rugose; lower surface light
grayish-green; margin coarsely serrate, tipped with dark
glands; petiole three-eighths inch long, with two to five
large, reniform, greenish-yellow glands variable in position.

Flower-buds large, long, oblong-conic, plump, pointed, heavily
pubescent, usually appressed; blossoms appear in mid-season;
flowers light to dark pink, nearly one and one-fourth inches
across, borne in ones and twos; pedicels short, thick,
glabrous, green; calyx-tube reddish-green, light yellow within,
campanulate, glabrous; calyx-lobes rather short, medium to
narrow, nearly acute, pubescent within, heavily pubescent
without; petals roundish-oval, slightly notched near the base,
tapering to short, narrow claws tinged with red at the base;
filaments nearly one-half inch long, shorter than the petals;
pistil heavily pubescent at the ovary, longer than the stamens.

Fruit matures in mid-season; two and one-half inches long,
two and three-eighths inches wide, round-oval, compressed,
often with unequal sides; cavity small, deep, abrupt or
flaring, often tinged with red; suture shallow, deepening
toward the apex; apex roundish, depressed at the center, with
a small, recurved, mamelon tip; color greenish-white mingled
with yellow, blushed, splashed and blotched with dark red;
pubescence thick, long, coarse; skin thin, tough, separates
readily from the pulp; flesh white, slightly tinged with red
near the pit, juicy, stringy, tender and melting, pleasantly
flavored, sprightly; good to very good in quality; stone nearly
free, one and three-eighths inches long, seven-eighths inch
wide, oval, with a short-pointed apex, medium in plumpness,
with deeply pitted and slightly grooved surfaces; ventral
suture slightly bulged near the apex, deeply furrowed along the
edges, narrow; dorsal suture grooved.

BERENICE

=1.= _La. Sta. Bul._ =3=:44. 1890. =2.= _Ibid._ =27=:941. 1894.
=3.= _Tex. Sta. Bul._ =39=:806. 1896. =4.= _Ga. Sta. Bul._
4=2=:233. 1898. =5.= _Del. Sta. Rpt._ =13=:92. 1901. =6.=
_Mich. Sta. Bul._ =194=:45. 1901. =7.= Berckmans _Cat._ 10.
1912-13.

When at its best Berenice is hardly surpassed in quality by any other peach but it seems capricious, in the North at least, and this, with the fact that it is none too attractive in coloring, is probably the reason why the variety is not more grown. The trees are about all that could be desired, falling short chiefly in not being as productive as several other peaches of its season and in being a little susceptible to leaf-curl. The variety has been offered to fruit-growers a sufficient length of time to have had its merits well tried as a commercial peach and the fact that it is not now largely grown is presumptive evidence that it has little commercial value. Its high quality makes the variety a good sort for the home collection at least.

Berenice originated some thirty or more years ago with the late Dr. L. E. Berckmans of Augusta, Georgia. It is supposed to have sprung from the pit of a General Lee tree which grew in one of Mr. Berckmans' test orchards. In the Berckmans nursery catalog it is stated of Berenice that after thirty years' trial "there is nothing equal to it in the same season."

Tree large, vigorous, spreading, open-topped, hardy, medium to
productive; trunk stocky; branches thick, smooth, reddish-brown
mingled with light ash-gray; branchlets with short internodes,
dark red overlaid with olive-green, smooth, glabrous, with
numerous large and small lenticels raised at the base.

Leaves six inches long, one and five-eighths inches wide,
folded upward, oval to obovate-lanceolate, leathery; upper
surface dark green, smooth; lower surface light grayish-green;
margin coarsely serrate, tipped with dark glands; petiole
one-fourth inch long, with two to ten large, reniform,
yellowish-green glands variable in position.

Flower-buds large, oblong, slightly pointed, heavily pubescent,
usually appressed; blossoms appear in mid-season; flowers
one and three-sixteenths inches across, pale pink, tinged
darker along the edges, well distributed; pedicels short,
glabrous, green; calyx-tube red mingled with dull, dark green,
orange-colored within, campanulate, glabrous; calyx-lobes often
broad, acute to obtuse, glabrous within, slightly pubescent or
heavily pubescent without; petals round-ovate, broadly notched,
tapering to short claws red at base; filaments three-eighths
inch long, shorter than the petals; pistil pubescent at the
ovary, longer than the stamens.

Fruit matures in mid-season; two and five-eighths inches
long, two and one-half inches wide, round-oval, with halves
often unequal; cavity deep, medium to wide, contracted around
the sides, with tender skin, often blushed with red; suture
shallow, deepening toward the apex; apex roundish or depressed,
with a mucronate or mamelon tip; color greenish-yellow, blushed
and splashed with red; pubescence short, medium fine; skin
tough, separates from the pulp; flesh yellow, faintly tinted
with red near the pit, stringy, tender and melting, sweet,
mild, pleasant flavored; good in quality; stone nearly free,
one and three-eighths inches long, fifteen-sixteenths inch
wide, oval, plump, drawn out at the ends, usually with pitted
surfaces; ventral suture deeply furrowed along the edges;
dorsal suture deeply grooved, with sides slightly wing-like.

BLOOD CLING

=1.= Bridgeman _Gard. Ass't_ Pt. =3=:109. 1857. =2.= _Am. Pom.
Soc. Cat._ 21. 1897. =3.= Waugh _Am. Peach Orch._ 199. 1913.

_Blood Clingstone_. =4.= Prince _Treat. Fr. Trees_ 17. 1820.
=5.= Floy _Am. Fruits_ 411. 1825. =6.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._
493, 494. 1845. =7.= _Ibid._ 601. 1869. =8.= Fulton _Peach
Cult._ 201. 1908.

_Blood Peach_. =9.= Kenrick _Am. Orch._ 197. 1841.

_Indian Blood Cling._ =10.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 18. 1871.

_Indian Blood._ =11.= _Ga. Sta. Bul._ =42=:237. 1898.

Blood Cling is the favorite curiosity of the peach-orchard and as such we accord it a color-plate and a full description in _The Peaches of New York_. Unfortunately, the beet-red color of the flesh could not be reproduced with sufficient accuracy to make the attempt satisfactory. It is a pleasant peach to eat out of hand and is much used for pickling and preserving, for which purposes it has real merit. The round-headed, compact tree might make the variety a desirable parent in breeding new peaches.

This peach is an American seedling raised many years ago from the Blood Clingstone of the French. The fruit is much larger than that of the parent sort but otherwise is much the same. The Blood Free raised by John M. Ives of Salem, Massachusetts, while somewhat of the nature of Blood Cling, is, nevertheless, a different sort. The American Pomological Society listed Blood Cling in its catalog in 1871 under the name Indian Blood Cling. In 1897 this name was changed to Blood Cling.

Tree large, vigorous, round, compact, hardy, unproductive;
trunk thick; branches stocky, reddish-bronze, with a light
ash-gray tinge; branchlets slender, long, with short
internodes, olive-green overlaid with dark red, smooth,
glabrous, with numerous usually small, inconspicuous lenticels.

Leaves five and three-fourths inches long, one and one-half
inches wide, folded upward, oval-lanceolate; leaves thin,
somewhat leathery; upper surface dark green, varying from
smooth to rugose; lower surface light grayish-green; margin
finely serrate, with dark brown glands; petiole three-eighths
inch long, with two to five reniform, light or dark green
glands variable in position.

Flower-buds large, long, plump, oblong-conic, pubescent,
free; flowers open in mid-season; blossoms pink, one and
three-eighths inches across; pedicels short, glabrous,
pale green; calyx-tube dull, speckled, greenish-red, light
greenish-yellow within, campanulate, glabrous; calyx-lobes
long, narrow, acute, glabrous within, heavily pubescent
without; petals oval to ovate, crenate near the base,
tapering to short, narrow claws white at the base; filaments
three-eighths inch long, shorter than the petals; pistil
pubescent, seven-sixteenths inch long, equal to or shorter than
the stamens.

Fruit matures very late; one and three-fourths inches long, one
and seven-eighths inches thick, compressed, with unequal halves
often giving a lopsided appearance; cavity narrow, abrupt,
usually white; suture shallow; apex round, with a mucronate
tip; color dull greenish-white, entirely overspread with dingy
pink mingled with splashes and stripes of darker, clouded red,
mottled; pubescence long, coarse; skin tough, adherent to the
pulp; flesh red, becoming lighter colored next the stone,
juicy, coarse, stringy, tough and meaty, brisk, pleasantly
flavored; fair in quality; stone clinging, one and one-fourth
inches long, seven-eighths inch wide, oval to slightly obovate,
short-pointed, strongly bulged near the apex, with grooved and
pitted surfaces; ventral suture deeply furrowed at the sides,
narrow; dorsal suture deep, medium in width.

BLOOD LEAF

=1.= _Mich. Sta. Bul._ =118=:33. 1895.

_Blood-leaved Peach._ =2.= _Gard. Mon._ =13=:206. 1871. =3.=
_Ibid._ =14=:316, Pl. 1872. =4.= _Ibid._ =15=:142, 183. 1873.
=5.= _Horticulturist_ =28=:155. 1873. =6.= _Gard. Mon._
=17=:58, 59. 1875.

Blood Leaf is a handsome ornamental. Its beet-red leaves in early spring and its pink blossoms, borne in great profusion, entitle it to esteem for both foliage and flowers. It is worth growing as well for its fruits. The color-plate opposite page 78 shows the flowers and the accompanying illustration depicts the fruit-characters. The peaches are in no way remarkable and yet they please some as a dessert fruit. Seedlings springing up under two trees of this variety in the Station orchard in 1913, furnished interesting data on the inheritance of the blood-red color in the leaves of this peach. Out of 252 young trees, 189 were red-leaved and 63 green-leaved--an exact three-to-one ratio to show that the green color is carried as a recessive.

Several stories are told of the origin of this peach. One is that on the battlefield of Fort Donelson, Kentucky, a southern general, fatally wounded, sucked the juice of a peach and threw the stone into the little pool of blood which flowed from his side. From this pit in its bloody seed-bed sprang the tree with its blood-red leaves. John L. Hebron, in a letter published in _Gardener's Monthly_, 1873, tells a different tale. According to Hebron the variety was found by P. I. Connor in 1866 at Champion Hills, Mississippi, on the battlefield where General Tilghman was killed, a tree having sprung up close to the spot where the General died. The variety is sometimes called the General Tilghman peach. Leaving fable and coming to facts, we find that the variety originated in Mississippi in the sixties and was introduced to the trade in 1871.

Tree large, vigorous, upright-spreading, willowy in growth,
open-topped, hardy, unproductive; trunk thick, rough; branches
smooth, reddish-bronze overspread with light ash-gray;
branchlets slender, long, with short internodes, dull green
overlaid with dark red, smooth, glabrous, with numerous small,
inconspicuous lenticels.

Leaves four and three-fourths inches long, one and one-fourth
inches wide, folded upward, oval-lanceolate with tendency
to obovate, thin; upper surface when young purplish-red
but changing to green, smooth or rugose; lower surface
purplish-olive; margin finely serrate, tipped with small, dark
glands; petiole three-eighths inch long, with two to five
small, reniform, greenish-yellow, red-tipped glands variable in
position.

Flower-buds large, oblong-conic, plump, pubescent, appressed;
blossoms appear in mid-season; flowers one and one-half
inches across, pale pink, occasionally in twos; pedicels
nearly sessile, glabrous, greenish; calyx-tube dark, dull red
mingled with green, yellowish within, campanulate, glabrous;
calyx-lobes long, narrow, acute, glabrous within, slightly
pubescent to heavily pubescent without; petals oval, slightly
contracted toward the apex, tapering to short claws; filaments
three-eighths inch long, shorter than the petals; pistil equal
to the stamens in length.

Fruit matures very late; one and five-eighths inches long,
nearly one and five-eighths inches wide, roundish-oval,
slightly compressed, with unequal sides, with prominent bulge
near the apex; cavity deep, narrow, abrupt, contracted about
the sides, marked with narrow, radiating stripes of pale red;
suture very shallow, becoming deeper toward the apex; apex
roundish or slightly depressed, with a small, mucronate or
recurved, mamelon tip; color greenish-white and pale yellow,
lightly washed with dull pink which changes to dull brown, in
some cases deepening to a reddish blush; pubescence thick,
short, fine; skin thin, tender, adherent to the pulp; flesh
white to the pit, juicy, coarse, meaty but tender, sweetish,
with some astringency; poor in quality; stone clinging, over
one inch long, three-fourths inch wide, oval, very plump,
tapering to a short, blunt point at the apex, with grooved
surfaces; ventral suture lightly furrowed along the sides,
rather wide; dorsal suture with narrow groove, slightly winged.

BRIGDON

=1.= _Am. Gard._ =11=:244, 378. 1890. =2.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._
32. 1899. =3.= Budd-Hansen _Am. Hort. Man._ =2=:340. 1903. =4.=
Waugh _Am. Peach Orch._ 199. 1913.

_Garfield._ =5.= _Can. Hort._ =26=:441, fig. 2665. 1903.

Brigdon is a local variety which possibly local pride puts too much in evidence in assigning it a place among the major varieties in _The Peaches of New York_. Still, it belongs with the Crawfords, aristocrats among peaches, and this is enough to give it standing in a home collection at least. In tree and fruit it is similar to and a worthy rival of Early Crawford and has the same two fatal faults to bar it from commercial plantations--the trees are capricious as to soils and are often unproductive. On the other hand, a character of the tree to commend it to the amateur is that it is one of the least susceptible of all peach-trees to leaf-curl. The variety is well known only in western New York and is going out in this region.

Brigdon originated more than a quarter-century ago in Cayuga County, New York, and has been grown since more or less extensively on the shores of Seneca Lake. The name Garfield was given to this peach by some one but why or when does not appear. The variety was added to the American Pomological Society's recommended list of fruits in 1899, a distinction it has since held.

Tree large, vigorous, upright-spreading, open-topped, hardy,
unproductive; trunk thick; branches stocky, rather smooth,
reddish-brown overlaid with light ash-gray; branchlets slender,
with tendency to branch, long, olive-green overlaid with
dark red, smooth, glabrous, with numerous large and small,
inconspicuous, irregularly shaped and often raised lenticels,
the expansion of which causes a cracking of the bark.

Leaves five and seven-eighths inches long, one and five-eighths
inches wide, folded upward, oval to obovate-lanceolate,
thin; upper surface dark green, rugose; lower surface light
grayish-green; margin finely serrate, tipped with dark glands;
petiole nearly one-half inch long, glandless or with one
to four small, globose, greenish-yellow glands variable in
position.

Flower-buds oblong-conic, pubescent, somewhat shrunken, usually
free; blossoms open in mid-season.

Fruit matures in mid-season; two and one-half inches long,
two and three-fourths inches wide, round-oval to cordate,
compressed, bulged beak-like near the apex; cavity deep,
medium to wide, abrupt or flaring, often colored with red;
suture shallow, becoming deep near the apex; apex roundish,
with a pointed or recurved, mamelon tip; color greenish-yellow
changing to pale orange-yellow, speckled and splashed with
dull red which often extends over nearly the whole surface;
pubescence long, thick, woolly; skin thin, somewhat tough,
separates from the pulp only when fully ripe; flesh yellow,
juicy, coarse, firm, tender, sweet, mild, pleasant flavored;
very good in quality; stone semi-free to free, one and
one-fourth inches long, seven-eighths inch wide, oval,
decidedly bulged on one side, with a rather long and slightly
curved point, with pitted and grooved surfaces; ventral suture
deeply furrowed along the edges, medium in width; dorsal suture
grooved, slightly winged.

CANADA

=1.= _Mich. Sta. Bul._ =118=:33. 1895.

_Early Canada._ =2.= _Gard. Mon._ =20=:237. 1878. =3.= _Ibid._
=27=:144, 145. 1885. =4.= _Mich. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 80. 1897.
=5.= Bogue _Cat._ 25. 1905.

_Canadische Frühpfirsich._ =6.= Mathieu _Nom. Pom._ 391. 1889.

Since its introduction some twenty-five years ago, Canada has been a standard early peach in the northern states and more particularly in the peach-growing region along Lake Ontario in Canada where it originated. The variety has few characters to commend it excepting earliness and hardiness though the trees often load themselves with fruit. The peaches, though small, are attractive in color which is bright red on a light background. The red is well shown in the color-plate though the fruits illustrated are rather smaller than usual. Canada is about the poorest of all peaches in flavor. The fruits are firm and ship well for a white-fleshed peach making, so many maintain, a better commercial variety than its rival, Alexander. On our grounds Canada is freer from rot than Alexander and the flesh does not cling as tightly. All agree that the tree is very hardy. However, there ought to be but small place in the peach-lists of nowadays for a variety so poor in quality and with fruits of such inferior size as those of Canada.

The variety originated as a chance seedling more than a quarter-century ago with A. H. High, Jordan, Ontario, Canada. It is often known as Early Canada and is not infrequently confounded with Amsden and Alexander, varieties of the same season.

Tree large, upright-spreading, open-topped, hardy, productive;
trunk thick; branches stocky, smooth, reddish-brown overspread
with light ash-gray; branchlets with internodes medium in
length, dark red, with a slight tinge of green, glossy, smooth,
glabrous, slightly curving, with numerous conspicuous, large,
raised lenticels.

Leaves folded upward, six inches long, one and one-fourth
inches wide, oval to obovate-lanceolate, medium in thickness;
upper surface pale olive-green, smooth or rugose; lower surface
grayish-green; margin finely serrate, tipped with reddish-brown
glands; petiole one-fourth inch long, with one to four small,
globose, greenish-yellow glands variable in position.

Flower-buds small, short, narrow, pointed, not very plump, dark
colored, appressed; blossoms appear in mid-season; flowers
dark pink at the center, bordered with lighter pink, one
and one-half inches across; pedicels very short, glabrous,
green; calyx-tube reddish-green, lemon-yellow within, obconic,
glabrous; calyx-lobes short, obtuse, glabrous within, slightly
or heavily pubescent without; petals roundish-ovate, widely
notched at the base, tapering to long, broad claws red at the
base; filaments one-half inch long, shorter than the petals;
pistil equal to the stamens in length.

Fruit matures very early; two inches long, two and one-fourth
inches wide, round-oblate, slightly compressed, with unequal
sides; cavity wide, flaring; suture shallow to deep; apex
ending in a mucronate, recurved tip; color creamy white,
blushed with red and mottled and splashed with darker red;
pubescence short, thick; skin thin, tender, separates from the
pulp; flesh white, juicy, fine-grained, meaty but tender, sweet
yet sprightly; fair in quality; stone semi-clinging, one and
one-eighth inches long, seven-eighths inch wide, round-oval to
elliptical, plump, abruptly pointed, with small grooves in the
surfaces; ventral suture very deeply grooved along the sides,
narrow; dorsal suture deeply grooved.

CAPTAIN EDE

=1.= Lovett _Cat._ 29. 1897. =2.= _W. N. Y. Hort. Soc. Rpt._
12. 1907.

_Ede._ =3.= _Ohio Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 183. 1888-89. =4.= _Mich.
Sta. Bul._ =169=:212. 1899. =5.= _Del. Sta. Rpt._ =13=:96.
1900. =6.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 37. 1909.

Though Captain Ede has been under cultivation forty-six years it has but recently come into prominence and seems now to find favor quite generally as a money-making peach. Those who recommend it say that the trees are vigorous, heavy bearers and that the crop is uniform and always fair, smooth and without culls. The crop matures in a short time, ships well and is in demand in the markets either as a dessert peach or for culinary purposes. On the Station grounds, Captain Ede comes up to the reputation given it in all respects excepting productiveness--here it is a shy bearer. The peaches, as the color-plate shows, are beautiful, the flavor is subacid but rich, with a distinct smack of the almond. Captain Ede ripens with Early Crawford, a week or ten days before Elberta. The tree, as it grows here, can hardly be distinguished from that of Elberta. We should unhesitatingly recommend Captain Ede to New York peach-growers, were it not for the fear that it does not accommodate itself to a diversity of soils and climates. It does rather better farther south.

Captain Ede originated in 1870 as a seedling in the door-yard of Captain Henry Ede, Cobden, Illinois. Later, it was introduced by George Gould and Son, Villa Ridge, Illinois. The parentage of the variety is unknown. By some, Chinese Cling is supposed to have been one of the parents and others give the same credit to Honest John. The American Pomological Society added Captain Ede to its fruit-list in 1909.

Tree large, vigorous, upright-spreading, hardy, not always
productive; trunk thick; branches stocky, smooth, reddish-brown
overspread with very light ash-gray; branchlets slender,
olive-green more or less overspread with dark red, smooth,
glabrous, with numerous large or very small, inconspicuous
lenticels.

Leaves five and three-fourths inches long, one and one-half
inches wide, folded upward, oval to obovate-lanceolate; upper
surface dark green, smooth; lower surface light grayish-green;
margin finely serrate, tipped with dark red glands;
petiole one-fourth inch long, with two to six, reniform,
greenish-yellow glands medium in size and variable in position.

Flower-buds large, long, oblong-conic, plump, usually
appressed; blossoms open very late; flowers three-fourths
inch across, dark pink; pedicels short, glabrous, pale
green; calyx-tube dull, dotted reddish-green, orange-red
within, campanulate, glabrous; calyx-lobes short, broad,
obtuse, glabrous within, heavily pubescent without; petals
roundish-ovate, notched near the base, tapering to short,
narrow, white claws; filaments one-fourth inch long, equal to
the petals in length; pistil pubescent toward the base, equal
to the stamens in length.

Fruit matures in mid-season; about two and one-fourth inches
in diameter, roundish-cordate to somewhat oval, very slightly
compressed, with nearly equal halves, bulged near the apex;
cavity wide, abrupt or flaring, often tinged with red and with
tender skin; suture variable in depth, extending more than
half-way around; apex roundish, with a prolonged, recurved,
mamelon tip; color orange-yellow, with specks and splashes of
red, blushed with darker red; pubescence thick, short, variable
in coarseness; skin tough, adherent to the pulp; flesh
yellow, stained red at the pit, dry, stringy, tender, somewhat
meaty, strongly aromatic, pleasantly flavored; good in quality;
stone free, one and one-fourth inches long, seven-eighths
inch wide, oval, bulged along the ventral suture, with pitted
surfaces; ventral suture deeply furrowed along the edges,
narrow; dorsal suture grooved, somewhat flattened.

CARMAN

=1.= _U. S. D. A. Pom. Rpt._ 25. 1894. =2.= _Rural N. Y._
=54=:235, 619. 1895. =3.= _Ga. Sta. Rpt._ =13=:308. 1900. =4.=
_Del. Sta. Rpt._ =13=:92, 93 fig. 3. 1901. =5.= _U. S. D. A.
Yearbook_ 385, 386, Pl. XLVIII. 1901. =6.= _W. N. Y. Hort. Soc.
Rpt._ 11. 1907. =7.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 36. 1909.

Among the many white-fleshed peaches of recent introduction, few hold a more conspicuous place than Carman. Possibly its chief asset is a constitution which enables it to withstand trying climates, both north and south, and to accommodate itself to a great variety of soils. Thus, we find Carman a very general favorite in nearly every peach-region on this continent. Besides its cosmopolitan constitution, there is much merit in the fruits especially for a peach ripening so early. While of but medium size (the color-plate does not do justice in showing the size of Carman) the peaches are most pleasing in appearance. The color is a brilliant red splashed with darker red on a creamy-white background. The shape is nearly round and the trimness and symmetry of the contour make the variety, especially when packed in box or basket, one scarcely surpassed in attractiveness of form. Carman is rated as very good in quality for a peach of its season though a smack of bitterness in its mild, sweet flavor condemns it for some. The habit of growth is excellent, peaches are borne abundantly, brown-rot takes comparatively little toll and in tree or bud the variety is remarkably hardy. All in all, Carman is one of the most useful peaches of its class and season for either home or commercial planting.

Carman grew from a seed planted in 1889 by J. W. Stubenrauch, Mexia, Texas. The tree fruited in 1892 and its earliness and freedom from rot so pleased Mr. Stubenrauch that he at once began propagating the new variety, naming it Pride of Texas. Later, in 1894, the name was changed to Carman in honor of the late E. S. Carman, long editor of the _Rural New Yorker_. In 1909 the American Pomological Society added Carman to its list of fruits as one of its recommended varieties.

Tree large, vigorous, spreading or somewhat upright,
open-topped, hardy, very productive; trunk thick; branches
stocky, smooth, bright red overspread with ash-gray; branchlets
long, olive-green overspread with dark red, glabrous, smooth,
glossy, with numerous small, inconspicuous lenticels.

Leaves five and seven-eighths inches long, one and
three-fourths inches wide, folded upward, oval to
obovate-lanceolate; upper surface dark green, smooth; lower
surface light grayish-green; margin finely serrate, tipped with
dark red glands; petiole one-fourth inch long, with three to
five reniform glands medium in size and variable in position
and color.

Flower-buds oval, pointed, plump, heavily pubescent, appressed;
blossoms open in mid-season; flowers one and one-fourth inches
across, pink; pedicels short, glabrous, pale green; calyx-tube
dull reddish-green, speckled, yellowish-green within,
campanulate, glabrous; calyx-lobes short, acute to obtuse,
glabrous within, heavily pubescent without; petals oval to
ovate, with distinct notches near the base, tapering to narrow,
white claws of medium length; filaments three-eighths inch
long, shorter than the petals; pistil pubescent near the base,
shorter than the stamens.

Fruit matures early; about two and one-fourth inches in
diameter, round-oval, compressed, with unequal sides, bulged
near the apex; cavity abrupt or flaring, tinged with pink
and with tender skin; suture shallow, becoming deeper at the
cavity; apex roundish or depressed, with a somewhat pointed or
mucronate tip; color creamy-white more or less overspread with
light red, with splashes of darker red; pubescence very thick,
short; skin thin, tough, adherent to the pulp; flesh white,
red at the pit, juicy, tender, sweet, mild, pleasant flavored;
very good in quality; stone nearly free, about one and one-half
inches long, one inch wide, oval, plump, with thickly-pitted
surfaces; ventral suture deeply grooved along the edges, thick,
furrowed and winged; dorsal suture deeply grooved.

CHAIRS

=1.= _Mich. Sta. Bul._ =169=:209. 1899. =2.= _Rural N. Y._
=59=:642 fig. 236. 1900. =3.= Budd-Hansen _Am. Hort. Man._
=2=:340. 1903.

_Chairs' Choice._ =4.= _N. C. Sta. Rpt._ =11=:108. 1889. =5.=
Waugh _Am. Peach Orch._ 200. 1913.

_Chair's Choice._ =6.= _Col. O. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 151. 1893.
=7.= _Ill. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 166. 1895. =8.= _Ibid._ 26. 1899.

_Chair Choice._ =9.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 44. 1891.

Chairs is a select fruit in the Crawford group, in its turn the most select of the several groups of peaches. In quality Chairs is unapproachable by varieties outside of its own family and is not surpassed by any within its group. The variety was at one time a standard late, yellow-fleshed, freestone, market peach competing in popularity with Late Crawford over which it often held ascendency because less subject to brown-rot. The coming of the showier and more productive but less well-flavored varieties of the Elberta type has driven the Crawford group from the markets and Chairs is now known only in collections where it will long be treasured for its delectable quality. Unproductiveness and capriciousness in soil and climate, faults of all Crawford-like peaches, are marked in Chairs. The fruits are usually larger than the specimens shown in the accompanying illustration.

Chairs originated about 1880 in the orchard of Franklin Chairs, Anne Arundel County, Maryland. First called Chairs' Choice, the apostrophe was dropped in 1891 by the American Pomological Society and still later the same organization shortened the name to Chairs. Its horticultural value was early appreciated by all pomologists and it has long been a prime favorite.

Tree large, vigorous, upright-spreading, hardy, unproductive;
trunk stocky; branches thick, smooth, reddish-brown covered
with light ash-gray; branchlets inclined to rebranch, short,
with long internodes, olive-green overlaid with dark red,
smooth, glabrous, with numerous large and small, raised
lenticels.

Leaves five and three-fourths inches long, one and one-half
inches wide, folded upward, oval to obovate-lanceolate,
thin; upper surface dark green, smooth or somewhat rugose;
lower surface light grayish-green; margin coarsely serrate,
often in two series, tipped with reddish-brown glands;
petiole one-fourth inch long, with two to six small, globose,
greenish-yellow glands variable in position.

Flower-buds large, oblong-obtuse, very plump, usually free;
season of bloom late; flowers dark pink fading toward the
whitish centers, three-fourths inch across; pedicels short,
glabrous, pale green; calyx-tube dull, dotted reddish-green,
orange-red within, campanulate, glabrous; calyx-lobes obtuse,
glabrous within, heavily pubescent without; petals oval or
ovate, nearly entire, often notched near the base, tapering to
claws of medium width, white at the base; filaments one-fourth
inch long, equal to the petals in length; pistil pubescent near
the ovary, usually longer than the stamens.

Fruit matures in late mid-season; two and three-fourths inches
long, two and seven-eighths inches thick, roundish-oval,
irregular, bulged beak-like along one side toward the apex,
compressed, with unequal halves; cavity deep, wide, abrupt
or flaring; suture shallow, deepening toward the apex and
extending slightly beyond; apex roundish, with a mucronate or
small, recurved, mamelon tip; color golden-yellow, blushed
and splashed with dull red; pubescence short, fine; skin
thin, tough, free; flesh yellow, faintly stained with red
near the pit, juicy, stringy, tender, subacid or sprightly,
pleasantly flavored; very good in quality; stone free, one
and three-fourths inches long, one and three-eighths inches
wide, large, broadly oval, bulged along one side, plump, with
surfaces deeply pitted and with short grooves; ventral suture
wide, deeply furrowed along the sides, winged; dorsal suture a
deep, wide groove inclined to wing.

CHAMPION

=1.= _U. S. D. A. Rpt._ 392. 1891. =2.= _Mich. Sta. Bul._
=118=:33. 1895. =3.= _Ont. Fr. Exp. Sta. Rpt._ =2=:57. 1895.
=4.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 21. 1897. =5.= _Ga. Sta. Bul._
=42=:233. 1898. =6.= _Mich. Sta. Bul._ =169=:209, 210. 1899.
=7.= _Kan. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 48. 1901. =8.= _Mich. Hort. Soc.
Rpt._ 112. 1903. =9.= _Can. Hort._ =27=:97, 98, fig. 2746.
1904. =10.= _U. S. D. A. Yearbook_ 478, 479, Pl. XLV. 1908.
=11.= Waugh _Am. Peach Orch._ 200. 1913.

Champion is the white-fleshed peach _par excellence_ in quality--rightly used as the standard to gauge the quality of all other white-fleshed peaches. The fruits are nearly as attractive to the eye as to the palate but unfortunately run small and off color in all but choicely good peach-soils. The peaches are not only very good in the characters that make up quality--tender flesh, juiciness, pleasant flavor--but there is a peculiar honeyed sweetness possessed by few other peaches which gives the Champion individuality. The color, barring a slight excess in yellow, is well shown in the color-plate but the size as shown is small. The tree of Champion is almost perfect from the ground up, few other varieties surpassing it in height and girt and none, on the Station grounds at least, equalling it in the quantity and the luxuriant green of its foliage. A Champion tree is known by its foliage as far as the eye can distinguish color. As would be expected from the tree-characters given, in soils to which it is suited, Champion rejoices in vigor and health as do few other varieties. The variety surpasses most of its orchard-associates in productiveness but the peaches are inviting prey to brown-rot and the trees are sometimes defoliated with leaf-curl so that, with its capriciousness as to soils, it has grave faults as a commercial variety. Because of high quality of the fruit and the beauty of the tree, Champion should have a conspicuous place in the orchard of the amateur.

Champion is a seedling of Oldmixon Free supposedly fertilized by Early York. The original seed was planted about 1880 by I. G. Hubbard, Nokomis, Illinois, and the variety was introduced by him and by the Dayton Star Nurseries in 1890. In the early years of its dissemination Champion was confused with an early, semi-cling variety which originated in western Michigan and which was locally sold for a time under the same name. The American Pomological Society added Champion to its fruit-list in 1897.

Tree large, vigorous, spreading, open-topped, very productive;
trunk thick; branches stocky, smooth, reddish-brown covered
with ash-gray; branchlets thick, very long, with short
internodes, olive-green overspread with dull red, smooth,
glabrous, with numerous large lenticels, inconspicuous except
toward the base.

Leaves five and one-fourth inches long, one and one-half
inches wide, folded upward, oval to obovate-lanceolate; upper
surface dark green, rugose along the midrib; lower surface
grayish-green; margin finely serrate, tipped with dark red
glands; petiole three-eighths inch long, with two to five
small, globose, greenish-yellow glands variable in position.

Flower-buds large, medium in length, plump, conical, pubescent,
free; blossoms appear in mid-season; flowers pink, less
than one inch across, well distributed; pedicels short,
glabrous, pale green; calyx-tube dark, mottled reddish-green,
greenish-yellow within, obconic, glabrous; calyx-lobes short,
broad, obtuse, glabrous within, pubescent without, slightly
reflexed; petals round-oval to ovate, tapering to narrow,
short, white claws; filaments three-eighths inch long, equal to
the petals in length; pistil pubescent about the ovary, equal
to the stamens in length.

Fruit matures in early mid-season; two and one-fourth inches
long, two and three-eighths inches wide, round or round-oval,
somewhat truncate, with halves usually equal; cavity shallow,
narrow, abrupt or flaring, contracted; suture shallow; apex
roundish, usually with a slightly recurved, mucronate tip;
color pale green changing to creamy-white, with splashes of
carmine mingled with a blush of darker red; pubescence short,
thick; skin tough, adherent to the pulp; flesh white, tinged
red at the pit, very juicy, markedly tender, sweet, pleasant
flavored; very good; stone semi-free to free, one and one-half
inches long, about one inch wide, oval, long-pointed, with
deeply grooved surfaces; ventral suture furrowed deeply along
the sides, wide; dorsal suture deeply furrowed, rather wide,
with sides slightly wing-like.

CHILI

=1.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 21. 1897. =2.= Budd-Hansen _Am. Hort.
Man._ =2=:340. 1903.

_Hill's Chili_ =3.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt._ 184, 211. 1856. =4.=
Elliott _Fr. Book_ 298. 1859. =5.= Downing _Fr. Trees Am._ 2nd
App. 142, 143. 1872. =6.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 28. 1873. =7.=
_Mich. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 483, 484. 1873.

_Sugar._ =8.= _Gard. Mon._ =11=:148. 1869.

_Stanley Late._ =9.= _Ibid._ =14=:347. 1872. =10.= _Mich. Sta.
Sp. Bul._ =44=:62. 1910.

_Jenny Lind._ =11.= _Mich. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 116. 1872.

_Cass._ =12.= _Mich. Hort. Soc. Rpt._ 14, 15. 1899.