The history of Salwey is not clear. Pomologists generally credit Thomas Rivers, Sawbridgeworth, England, with being the originator and introducer of the variety. It is known that Rivers grew it on his grounds but it is doubtful if he originated it. Other accounts say that it was raised in 1844 by Colonel Salwey, Egham Park, Surrey, England, from the seed of an Italian peach. Some say that a Charles Turner, Slough, England, brought the Italian peach seed from Florence, Italy, while others state that Turner introduced the new peach. The variety has long been known in America as Salway but Colonel Salwey, after whom the peach was named, spelled his name with an "e" and the correction is made in this text. In 1875 the American Pomological Society added this peach to its list of recommended fruits under the name Salway.
SALWEY
Tree of medium size, vigorous, upright-spreading, becoming drooping, dense-topped, hardy, very productive; trunk thick, smooth; branches stocky, smooth, reddish-brown mingled with very light ash-gray; branchlets slender, very long, with a tendency to rebranch near the tips; internodes dull pinkish-red with but little if any green, glossy, smooth, glabrous, with numerous raised lenticels.
Leaves seven inches long, one and three-fourths inches wide, folded upward and recurled, oval to ovate-lanceolate, leathery; apex acuminate; upper surface dark, dull green, smooth, becoming rugose near the midrib; margin finely serrate, tipped with reddish-brown glands; petiole three-eighths inch long, glandless or with one to six small, globose and reniform glands variable in color and position.
Flower-buds hardy, conical or pointed, pubescent, appressed or partly free; blossoms appear in mid-season; flowers seven-eighths inch across, white at the center of the petals, becoming pink near the margins; pedicels very short, nearly sessile, thick; calyx-tube reddish-green, orange-colored within, campanulate, glabrous; calyx-lobes short, narrow, acute, glabrous within, pubescent without; petals round, broadly oval, widely notched near the base, tapering to long, narrow claws red at the base; filaments five-sixteenths inch long, equal to the petals in length; pistil pubescent, longer than the stamens.
Fruit matures very late; two and nine-sixteenths inches long, two and one-half inches wide, round-cordate, bulged near the apex, compressed, with unequal halves; cavity deep, abrupt, often splashed with red; suture shallow, often extending beyond the tip; apex usually a small, elongated point; color greenish-yellow, usually with a brownish-red blush splashed dark red; pubescence short, thick, fine; skin thin, tough, adherent to the pulp; flesh golden-yellow, faintly tinged with red near the pit, juicy, stringy, tender, becomes dry with age, sweet, pleasantly flavored, aromatic; good to very good in quality; stone free, one and one-half inches long, one and one-sixteenth inches wide, oval to roundish-oval, very plump, pointed at the base, with large pits and short grooves in the surfaces; ventral suture narrow, deeply furrowed along the edges; dorsal suture winged, a narrow groove.
SCHUMAKER
1. Gard. Mon. 22:276. 1880. 2. W. N. Y. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 115. 1880. 3. Gard. Mon. 25:111 fig. 1883. 4. Mich. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 314, 315. 1889. 5. R. I. Sta. Bul. 7:41. 1890. 6. Budd-Hansen Am. Hort. Man. 2:356. 1903.
Shoemaker's Seedling. 7. Cult. & Count. Gent. 41:631. 1876.
Schumaker, now grown only in western New York and Pennsylvania, for a long time was described as the earliest of the white-fleshed, clingstone peaches. There are other peaches as early but, on the Station grounds, this is the best flavored of the early peaches. Moreover, when fully ripe it is almost a freestone. It is a handsome peach in color and shape but the fruits are too small though this can be remedied in part by thinning. The trees are large, hardy, vigorous and productive to a fault. With all of these good qualities, the wonder is that Schumaker is not more popular as a commercial variety to open the season but for some reason peach-growers are not pleased with it—probably because of the small size of the peaches. For a peach of its season, Schumaker is remarkably free from brown-rot. Nurserymen often substitute Alexander for this variety and vice versa.
This variety originated as a seedling with Michael Schumaker, Fairview, Erie County, Pennsylvania. Its parentage is unknown. It fruited for the first time in 1877 and was for a few years grown commercially but its popularity has long been on the wane.
SCHUMAKER