ST. JOHN
1. Mich. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 320. 1890. 2. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 46. 1891. 3. Mich. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 68. 1891. 4. Tex. Sta. Bul. 39:814. 1896. 5. Ont. Fr. Exp. Sta. Rpt. 9:8 fig. 1902. 6. Waugh Am. Peach Orch. 207. 1913.
Flater's St. John. 7. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 613. 1869.
Yellow St. John. 8. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 18. 1871. 9. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 64. 1871. 10. Ohio Sta. Bul. 170:182. 1906.
Fleitas St. John. 11. Pa. Bd. Agr. Rpt. 586. 1878. 12. Ga. Sta. Bul. 42:235. 1898.
May Beauty. 13. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 148. 1883.
Crane. 14. Mich. Sta. Sp. Bul. 44:34. 1910.
Unproductiveness and uncertainty in bearing keep this magnificent yellow-fleshed dessert fruit from being one of the most popular early peaches. Even with these handicaps, to which may be added small size in many situations, St. John has maintained great popularity for home orchards and in many peach-regions is grown for the markets. It is one of the earliest of the Crawford-like peaches, a perfect freestone, handsome in appearance, sweet, rich and delicious in flavor and pleasing in all of the flesh attributes of a good dessert peach. St. John resembles Early Crawford in size and shape but is a little more rotund, runs somewhat smaller, is not quite as high in quality and ripens several days earlier. The trees are all that could be asked for in size, vigor and hardiness, falling short only in the characters noted in the opening sentence. St. John should always be planted in the home orchard and it would seem that it is more often worth planting in commercial orchards. The color-plate does not do the variety justice in size, color or shape, the Station grounds being one of the many places in which the variety cannot be had at its best.
Where, by whom and when St. John originated and what its parentage, are unknown. It is more than half a century old, came from the South, and has been widely planted in southern peach-districts, especially along the southern coast of Alabama. The variety reproduces itself from seed and this fact has led to its being distributed under a number of different names as is shown by the synonyms listed in the references. In Michigan the variety was grown for some time as Crane, or Crane's Early Yellow, having come from the orchard of Charles G. Crane of Fennville. Mr. Crane, it appears, had lost the true name of the peach and after fruiting his supposed seedling for a time it was discovered by T. T. Lyon[265] to be identical with St. John. In 1871 the American Pomological Society added this peach to its fruit-list as Yellow St. John but dropped "Yellow" from the name in 1891, the variety having appeared since that time in the Society's catalog as St. John.
ST. JOHN
Tree medium to large, vigorous, upright-spreading, with the lower branches drooping, unproductive; trunk stocky, medium to smooth; branches thick, smooth, reddish-brown covered with light ash-gray; branchlets with internodes of medium length, dark pinkish-red with a trace of green, glossy, smooth, glabrous, with a few lenticels variable in size, raised at the base.
Leaves six and one-half inches long, one and three-fourths inches wide, flattened or slightly curled downward, oval to obovate-lanceolate, thick; upper surface dull, dark green, smooth; lower surface grayish-green; apex acuminate; margin finely serrate, often in two series, tipped with reddish-brown glands; petiole three-eighths inch long, glandless or with one to five small, globose glands variable in color and position.
Flower-buds obtuse, pubescent, plump, appressed or free; blossoms appear in mid-season; flowers seven-eighths inch across, white toward the base of the petals, becoming dark pink near the edges; pedicels short, glabrous, pale green; calyx-tube reddish-green, orange-colored within, obconic; calyx-lobes obtuse, glabrous within, pubescent without; petals small, ovate to oval, notched near the base, tapering to narrow claws; filaments seven-sixteenths inch long, equal to the petals in length; pistil pubescent near the base, as long as the stamens.
Fruit matures early; two and one-half inches long, two and three-fourths inches wide, round-oval, often bulged near the apex, usually compressed, with oblique sides; cavity medium to deep, wide, abrupt or flaring, often tinged with red; suture deep near the tip; apex round or depressed, with a mucronate or pointed tip; color deep yellow, blushed and splashed with carmine; pubescence thick and long; skin medium to thick, tough, variable in adherence to the pulp; flesh light yellow, tinged with red near the pit, juicy, tender, pleasantly sprightly, highly flavored; very good in quality; stone free, one and one-fourth inches long, fifteen-sixteenths inch wide, ovate, plump, tapering to a long point, with rough surfaces marked by large and small pits; ventral suture deeply grooved along the edges, furrowed; dorsal suture a large, deep groove.
SALWEY
1. Leroy Dict. Pom. 6:270, 271 fig. 1879. 2. Hogg Fruit Man. 460. 1884. 3. Bunyard Cat. 36. 1913-14.
Salway. 4. Horticulturist N. S. 8:168. 1858. 5. Gard. Chron. 944. 1861. 6. Mas Le Verger 7:51, 52, fig. 24. 1866-73. 7. Am. Hort. Ann. 80, 81 fig. 38. 1870. 8. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 56. 1871. 9. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 1st App. 122. 1872. 10. Horticulturist 27:248. 1872. 11. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 30. 1875. 12. Mich. Sta. Bul. 169:225. 1899. 13. Kan. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 48, 49. 1901. 14. Budd-Hansen Am. Hort. Man. 2:355. 1903. 15. Cat. Cong. Pom. France 114 fig. 1906.
Salwey is one of the two European peaches cultivated on a commercial scale in America, Rivers being the other. Both find their greatest usefulness in extending the peach-season, this variety being one of the latest and Rivers one of the earliest sorts. It is a yellow-fleshed, freestone peach of attractive appearance and of good quality, neither handsome enough nor good enough in quality, however, to be considered a first-class dessert fruit. On the other hand it is one of the best sorts for canning, preserving and evaporating. The trees are vigorous, hardy, healthy and very productive but unfortunately ripen their crop so late in New York that the variety cannot be depended upon. Early freezes often destroy the fruit and cold, wet weather usually hinders maturity so much that the peaches are seldom at their best in this State. Possibly no other peach is more widely grown than Salwey. It is a standard sort in France, England and in peach-regions in America from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from Canada to the Gulf. This uncommon adaptability to diverse soils and climates ought to make it a valuable sort in peach-breeding. It has the reputation of coming true to seed but we do not find that many varieties have come from it.