OLDMIXON FREE
1. Kenrick Am. Orch. 221. 1832. 2. Prince Pom. Man. 2:23. 1832. 3. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 484. 1845. 4. Proc. Nat. Con. Fr. Gr. 51. 1848. 5. Elliott Fr. Book 278. 1854. 6. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 45, 183, 211. 1856. 7. Fulton Peach Cult. 187, 188. 1908. 8. Waugh Am. Peach Orch. 205. 1913.
Oldmixon Clearstone. 9. Coxe Cult. Fr. Trees 222. 1817.
Oldmixon Free is a variant of Oldmixon Cling, differing, essentially, as the name implies, in having a free stone; it is, also, more sprightly in flavor and not quite as well endowed with the characters that constitute high quality. Side by side, outwardly, the two peaches can hardly be told apart. Since Oldmixon Cling is sometimes semi-free and Oldmixon Free often clings more or less, the two are often confused in orchards and markets. Both of these Oldmixons, as those who live in regions where cold and frost do frequent damage should know, are as hardy in wood and bud as any of the white-fleshed varieties. The blossoms of both, too, appear in late mid-season, thereby often escaping frosts. The trees of Oldmixon Free, like those of Oldmixon Cling, have the fault of being unproductive.
Oldmixon Free is supposed to be an American seedling of Oldmixon Cling, a fruit for the introduction of which we are indebted to Sir John Oldmixon of early colonial fame. At the Convention of Fruit-Growers held in 1848, Oldmixon Free was placed on the list of recommended peaches. In 1856 it appeared in the fruit-list of the American Pomological Society where it still remains.
OLDMIXON FREE
Tree very large, vigorous, upright to spreading, hardy, rather unproductive; trunk thick, smooth; branches stocky, smooth, reddish-brown tinged with light ash-gray; branchlets of medium thickness and length, with tendency to rebranch, dark, deep red intermingled with olive-green, glossy, smooth, glabrous, with conspicuous, numerous, raised lenticels.
Leaves six and seven-eighths inches long, one and three-fourths inches wide, curled downward or flattened, oval to obovate-lanceolate, leathery, dull, dark green, smooth; lower surface grayish-green; apex acuminate; margins finely serrate, tipped with reddish-brown glands; petiole three-eighths inch long, glandless or with one to four small, globose glands variable in color and position.
Flower-buds half-hardy, conical to pointed, plump, pubescent, free; blossoms appear in mid-season; flowers three-fourths inch across, pale pink near the center becoming darker pink at the outside, often in twos; pedicels very short, glabrous, green; calyx-tube reddish-green at the base, greenish-yellow within, obconic; calyx-lobes short, obtuse, glabrous within, pubescent without; petals oval, faintly notched near the base, tapering to narrow, long claws tinged with red at the base; filaments three-eighths inch long, equal to the petals in length; pistil pubescent near the base, equal to or longer than the stamens.
Fruit matures late; two and one-half inches long, two and three-fourths inches wide, round-cordate, usually bulged on one side, often compressed, with unequal sides; cavity medium to deep, abrupt or flaring, tinged with red; suture shallow, becoming deeper toward the apex and extending beyond; apex roundish, with a mucronate or recurved, mamelon tip; color creamy-white more or less overspread with a lively red blush in which are faint splashes and mottlings of darker red; pubescence coarse, thick; skin thin, tough, separates from the pulp; flesh white, deeply tinted with red near the pit, juicy, stringy, tender and melting, sweet, with more or less sprightliness; very good in quality; stone free or nearly free, one and three-eighths inches long, one and one-eighth inches wide, oval to ovate, bulged, flattened near the base, with grooved and purplish-brown surfaces; ventral suture deeply grooved near the edges, furrowed, faintly winged; dorsal suture grooved.