1980] Prac CuLTURE IN CALIFORNIA 13
deep red color. The flesh is firm, juicy, sweet, and, as grown in Cali-
fornia, withstands transportation well. The trees appear to be some-
what more resistant to leaf curl than many other varieties, and are
hardy and vigorous. The fruit is inclined to be somewhat small, with
a stone that is only partly free. The quality is fair for eating. The
tree is often lacking in productiveness, and the fruits are relatively
susceptible to brown rot.
Early Crawford—The Early Crawford originated in New Jersey
in the forepart of the nineteenth century. The fruit has a very high
quality, rich flavor, tender flesh, pleasing aroma, and abundant juice.
It is very attractive, being large in size, with a deep red color on the
sunny side, and is an excellent freestone variety for the home orchard.
The trees are healthy and vigorous-growing but are rather late coming
into full bearing. It was once the most extensively planted variety in
California, but is now losing its popularity. In many sections the
bearing has proved uncertain.
Elberta.—The Elberta originated in Georgia about 1870 from a
seed of the Chinese Cling which had supposedly been pollinated by
Early Crawford. Claim has been made that several new strains or
types of Elbertas have been discovered. June Elberta, Late Elberta,
Early Elberta, and Fay Elberta are some of the names by which these
strains have been called. The distinctive differences or merits of these,
however, have not been definitely nor widely determined.
Elberta is the predominating variety of peach in most of the
producing centers in the United States. It is in demand as a fresh
fruit and is perhaps the most popular variety on most of the markets.
It is cosmopolitan, and succeeds on a variety of soils and under
widely different climatic conditions. The fruits are large, attractive,
freestone, ship and keep well. The variety is sometimes used for
drying, six or seven pounds of fresh fruit giving one pound of dried
product. It is not preferred by canners and the flesh is too red at pit
to make a satisfactory drying peach. The fruits are only medium in
quality for eating, having a rather bitter taste even when ripe, and
the stone is somewhat large.
Gaume—The Gaume is a variety of recent origin, having been
discovered in Sutter County, California, as a chance seedling on the
ranch of J. Li. Ames near Live Oak. The flesh is yellow, firm, of
desirable texture for canning and free from red color at the pit. It is
a good producer and mid-season in time of ripening. The fruit with-
stands handling well, but tends to drop prematurely. The variety is
somewhat susceptible to peach rust.
