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.
OPULENT
1. Ill. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 209. 1906. 2. Fancher Creek Nur. Cat. 31. 1907. 3. Burbank Cat. 5. 1911.
Opulent is a white-fleshed, freestone peach of very mediocre character as it grows on the Station grounds. The fruits are attractive in appearance but not uncommonly so and are often marred, as they grow in New York, by peach-scab. The quality is scarcely better than the average and is ruined for most peach-lovers by a bitter tang, though to others this almond-like bitterness in the flavor may be a commendation. The variety ripens in mid-season. The trees are scarcely more satisfactory on the Station grounds than the fruits, being unproductive and none too vigorous. The chief claim this peach has to public notice is that it is a cross between a peach and a nectarine. Though as yet not thoroughly tried in New York, it is safe to say that it is worthless for this region.
Opulent was sent out several years ago by Luther Burbank, Santa Rosa, California, as a hybrid between the Muir peach and New White Nectarine.
Tree large, vigorous, upright-spreading with a tendency to droop, medium in productiveness; trunk smooth; branches stocky, smooth, reddish-brown with a light ash-gray tinge; branchlets slender, long, with medium to long internodes, dull red intermingled with green, glossy, smooth, glabrous, with conspicuous, large, raised lenticels few in number.
Leaves six and one-half inches long, one and one-half inches wide, flattened or curled downward, oval to obovate-lanceolate, leathery, dark green, smooth becoming rugose along the midrib; lower surface grayish-green; margin finely serrate, tipped with reddish-brown glands; petiole one-half inch long, with one to six small, globose and reniform, reddish-brown glands variable in position.
Flower-buds tender, large, long, conical or obtuse, pubescent, plump, free; blossoms appear in mid-season; flowers one and one-eighth inches across, white at the center of the petals becoming dark pink near the margins; pedicels short, glabrous, green; calyx-tube reddish-green, orange-colored within, campanulate, glabrous; calyx-lobes short, narrow, acute, glabrous within, pubescent without; petals oval or roundish, broadly notched, tapering to long, narrow claws red at the base; filaments five-sixteenths inch long, equal to the petals in length; pistil pubescent at the ovary, longer than the stamens.
Fruit matures in early mid-season; two and one-half inches long, two and seven-sixteenths inches wide, round-oval, compressed, with unequal halves; cavity deep, abrupt, often marked with red; suture a mere line or very shallow, often a slight depression just beyond the point; apex roundish, with a mucronate and recurved tip; color creamy-white, with a faint blush, speckled and striped with darker red; pubescence short; skin tough, separates from the pulp; flesh white, juicy, stringy, tender, melting, sweet but sprightly; fair in quality; stone free, one and five-sixteenths inches long, seven-eighths inch wide, ovate to slightly oval, flattened at the base, plump, short-pointed, with pitted surfaces marked by few grooves; ventral suture deeply furrowed along the edges, medium in width, furrowed; dorsal suture deeply grooved.
PALLAS
1. Ga. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 55. 1885. 2. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 46. 1891. 3. La. Sta. Bul. 17:499. 1891. 4. Tex. Sta. Bul. 39:805. 1896. 5. Ga. Sta. Bul. 42:239, 240. 1898. 6. Mich. Sta. Bul. 169:222. 1899. 7. Budd-Hansen Am. Hort. Man. 2:353. 1903. 8. Fla. Sta. Bul. 73:150. 1904. 9. Ala. Sta. Bul. 156:134. 1911.
Pallas Honeydew. 10. Ohio Sta. Bul. 170:178. 1906.
Pallas is about the best of the several honey-flavored, beaked peaches that have fruited on the Station grounds. This is one of the sorts supposed to thrive only in warm climates but here, in a location none too favorably situated as to climate, the trees are vigorous, appear to be hardy and differ from northern varieties, so far as life events are concerned, only in holding their leaves longer. The fruits run small and lack uniformity in size, faults that will not permit Pallas ever to become a commercial sort in New York. Moreover, the peaches are not attractive in appearance, suffer terribly from brown-rot and do not ship well—further disqualifications for competition in commerce. In quality, especially, to those who have a taste for sweets, Pallas is almost unapproachable—so rich, sweet, aromatic and delicious as well to justify the sobriquet, "Honeydew," frequently bestowed upon it. This variety might well be planted in every home orchard.