SMOCK
1. U. S. D. A. Rpt. 193, 194. 1865. 2. Mas Le Verger 7:75, 76, fig. 36. 1866-73. 3. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 28. 1873. 4. Leroy Dict. Pom. 6:279 fig., 280. 1879. 5. Mich. Sta. Bul. 169:225, 226. 1899. 6. Fulton Peach Cult. 196, 197. 1908.
Saint George. 7. Kenrick Am. Orch. 193. 1841.
Smock Freestone. 8. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 492. 1845. 9. Bridgeman Gard. Ass't Pt. 3:108. 1857. 10. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 78. 1862.
Though little grown now, during the last half of the last century Smock was one of the leading commercial peaches of its season. The variety has so little to recommend it, however, that we cannot but believe that reputation more than merit kept up its popularity. The trees are about all that could be desired but the peaches are of but mediocre quality and not at all attractive in appearance, lacking in size and color, are ungainly in shape and have but little uniformity in size, color or shape. It is one of the latest yellow-fleshed peaches and is said to be excellent for all culinary purposes. With so many better varieties of late yellow-fleshed, freestone peaches, Smock is not worth planting for any purpose.
Smock originated three-quarters of a century or more ago with a Mr. Smock, Middletown, New Jersey. Variations under such names as Smock X and Smock (Hance) have arisen as distinct varieties but all have proved to be identical with the old sort. The name Smock Cling appears in peach-literature but whether the peach was distinct we cannot say. Years after the introduction of Smock a peach was put out under the name "Beers Smock." The differences claimed are that Beers Smock runs larger and is better in quality than Smock. All descriptions of the two sorts, however, are so nearly identical that we believe that the two names are given to the same peach. In 1862 the American Pomological Society listed Smock in its catalog as Smock Freestone. In 1873 the name was shortened to Smock and it so appears today.
SMOCK
Tree large, vigorous, upright-spreading, somewhat drooping, dense-topped, tall, usually very productive; trunk medium to thick, rough; branches stocky, smooth, reddish-brown with very light ash-gray tinge; branchlets slender, medium to long, with short internodes, dark red intermingled with olive-green, glossy, smooth, glabrous, with large, raised lenticels.
Leaves six and one-fourth inches long, one and one-half inches wide, flattened or curved downward, oval to obovate-lanceolate, thick; upper surface dull, dark green; smooth; lower surface grayish-green; margin finely serrate, tipped with dark red glands; petiole three-eighths inch long, with none to five small, globose or reniform glands variable in color and position.
Flower-buds tender, conical or pointed, slightly pubescent, appressed or free; blossoms appear in mid-season; flowers less than one inch across, white at the center of the petals, light or dark pink near the edges, often in twos; pedicels short, glabrous, greenish; calyx-tube reddish-green at the base, orange-colored within, campanulate, glabrous; calyx-lobes broad, acute, serrate, glabrous within, pubescent without, partly reflexed; petals oval, irregular in outline near the base, tapering to long, narrow claws often reddish 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 very late; two and one-half inches long, two and three-eighths inches wide, oval, irregular, often bulged near the apex, compressed, with halves unequal and somewhat angular; cavity narrow, abrupt, contracted around the sides, twig-marked; suture a mere line, becoming deeper toward the apex; apex roundish, with a recurved, mucronate tip; color greenish-yellow or sometimes orange-yellow, specked and mottled with dull, dark red or sometimes faintly tinted with a bronze blush; pubescence very heavy, thick, fine; skin thin, tough, adherent to the pulp; flesh yellow, faintly tinged with red near the pit, variable in juiciness, tender, sprightly, pleasantly flavored; good in quality; stone free, one and five-eighths inches long, one and one-sixteenth inches wide, oval or obovate, bulged near the apex, flattened toward the base, with deeply grooved surfaces; ventral suture narrow, winged, deeply grooved along the sides; dorsal suture a wide and deep groove, winged.