Holsinger Salwey. 1. Stark Bros. Cat. 24. 1912.
According to Stark Brothers, Louisiana, Missouri, this variety is supposed to be an improved Salwey from the orchard of Major Frank Holsinger, Wyandotte County, Kansas. Rated by Mr. Holsinger as the best of forty-nine Salwey seedlings raised by him.
Holt Early. 1. Ill. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 188. 1881.
An early, white freestone from Warsaw, Illinois.
Honest Abe. 1. Cal. Bd. Hort. Rpt. 69. 1883. 2. Wickson Cal. Fruits 312. 1891.
Honest Abe is a California variety from Healdsburg; said to be curl-proof. Fruit large, yellow, blushed; ripens between the Crawfords.
Honest John. 1. U. S. Pat. Off. Rpt. 299. 1854. 2. Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt. 44. 1856. 3. Mich. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 115. 1873. 4. Mich. Sta. Bul. 59:14. 1890. 5. Mich. Sta. Sp. Bul. 44:46. 1910.
Honest John is an old variety whose origin is given both as in western New York and as in Michigan. The Honest John grown in Michigan and disseminated by C. C. Engle of Paw Paw, is probably the true variety. Half a century ago it was grown extensively in peach-sections but inferior quality and small size of fruit condemn it. Several writers have confused Honest John with Large York, George IV and Haines but all of these are distinct. Tree large, vigorous; fruit large, roundish-oval, compressed; apex roundish or slightly pointed; color greenish-yellow changing to deep yellow, mottled and blushed with dull carmine; fresh yellow, tinged with red near the pit, moderately juicy, meaty yet tender, subacid, inferior in flavor; fair in quality; stone free; ripens in mid-season.
Honey. 1. Horticulturist N. S. 8:456. 1858. 2. Jour. Hort. N. S. 5:188. 1863. 3. Downing Fr. Trees Am. 617. 1869. 4. Hogg Fruit Man. 450. 1884. 5. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 30. 1889. 6. Fla. Sta. Bul. 73:141-143. 1904.
Montigny. 7. Mas Le Verger 7:69, 70, fig. 33. 1866-73. 8. Carrière Var. Pêchers 59, 60. 1867. 9. Leroy Dict. Pom. 6:169, 170 fig. 1879.
Honey is a Chinese peach probably first raised in Europe from seed sent to the Jardin des Plantes at Paris, by de Montigny, Consul of France, at Shanghai. The name Honey may have been applied to it in England. It reproduces itself closely from seed and a number of slight variations from the original type have been found in America. The strain chiefly grown in this country was raised by Charles Downing from seed brought from China. Downing's seedlings failed but prior to their failure he had sent grafts from them to Henry Lyons, Columbia, South Carolina, who grew some trees. The variety was probably disseminated in America from this source. In 1889 the American Pomological Society added Honey to its list of fruits. Tree vigorous, hardy and productive in the South; glands usually reniform but sometimes globose; fruit small to medium, oblong-oval, tapering at the apex into a long, sharp nipple or beak, and marked with a distinct suture; color whitish-yellow, washed and dotted with red, which deepens to almost a crimson blush; flesh creamy-white, streaked with red around the pit, juicy, very tender, melting, sweet, with a distinct, rich, honey-like flavor; quality very good; pit free; season in the South from the middle of June to the first of July.