CANADA
Tree large, upright-spreading, open-topped, hardy, productive; trunk thick; branches stocky, smooth, reddish-brown overspread with light ash-gray; branchlets with internodes medium in length, dark red, with a slight tinge of green, glossy, smooth, glabrous, slightly curving, with numerous conspicuous, large, raised lenticels.
Leaves folded upward, six inches long, one and one-fourth inches wide, oval to obovate-lanceolate, medium in thickness; upper surface pale olive-green, smooth or rugose; lower surface grayish-green; margin finely serrate, tipped with reddish-brown glands; petiole one-fourth inch long, with one to four small, globose, greenish-yellow glands variable in position.
Flower-buds small, short, narrow, pointed, not very plump, dark colored, appressed; blossoms appear in mid-season; flowers dark pink at the center, bordered with lighter pink, one and one-half inches across; pedicels very short, glabrous, green; calyx-tube reddish-green, lemon-yellow within, obconic, glabrous; calyx-lobes short, obtuse, glabrous within, slightly or heavily pubescent without; petals roundish-ovate, widely notched at the base, tapering to long, broad claws red at the base; filaments one-half inch long, shorter than the petals; pistil equal to the stamens in length.
Fruit matures very early; two inches long, two and one-fourth inches wide, round-oblate, slightly compressed, with unequal sides; cavity wide, flaring; suture shallow to deep; apex ending in a mucronate, recurved tip; color creamy white, blushed with red and mottled and splashed with darker red; pubescence short, thick; skin thin, tender, separates from the pulp; flesh white, juicy, fine-grained, meaty but tender, sweet yet sprightly; fair in quality; stone semi-clinging, one and one-eighth inches long, seven-eighths inch wide, round-oval to elliptical, plump, abruptly pointed, with small grooves in the surfaces; ventral suture very deeply grooved along the sides, narrow; dorsal suture deeply grooved.
CAPTAIN EDE
1. Lovett Cat. 29. 1897. 2. W. N. Y. Hort. Soc. Rpt. 12. 1907.
Ede. 3. Ohio Hort. Soc. Rpt. 183. 1888-89. 4. Mich. Sta. Bul. 169:212. 1899. 5. Del. Sta. Rpt. 13:96. 1900. 6. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat. 37. 1909.
Though Captain Ede has been under cultivation forty-six years it has but recently come into prominence and seems now to find favor quite generally as a money-making peach. Those who recommend it say that the trees are vigorous, heavy bearers and that the crop is uniform and always fair, smooth and without culls. The crop matures in a short time, ships well and is in demand in the markets either as a dessert peach or for culinary purposes. On the Station grounds, Captain Ede comes up to the reputation given it in all respects excepting productiveness—here it is a shy bearer. The peaches, as the color-plate shows, are beautiful, the flavor is subacid but rich, with a distinct smack of the almond. Captain Ede ripens with Early Crawford, a week or ten days before Elberta. The tree, as it grows here, can hardly be distinguished from that of Elberta. We should unhesitatingly recommend Captain Ede to New York peach-growers, were it not for the fear that it does not accommodate itself to a diversity of soils and climates. It does rather better farther south.
Captain Ede originated in 1870 as a seedling in the door-yard of Captain Henry Ede, Cobden, Illinois. Later, it was introduced by George Gould and Son, Villa Ridge, Illinois. The parentage of the variety is unknown. By some, Chinese Cling is supposed to have been one of the parents and others give the same credit to Honest John. The American Pomological Society added Captain Ede to its fruit-list in 1909.
CAPTAIN EDE
Tree large, vigorous, upright-spreading, hardy, not always productive; trunk thick; branches stocky, smooth, reddish-brown overspread with very light ash-gray; branchlets slender, olive-green more or less overspread with dark red, smooth, glabrous, with numerous large or very small, inconspicuous lenticels.
Leaves five and three-fourths inches long, one and one-half inches wide, folded upward, oval to obovate-lanceolate; upper surface dark green, smooth; lower surface light grayish-green; margin finely serrate, tipped with dark red glands; petiole one-fourth inch long, with two to six, reniform, greenish-yellow glands medium in size and variable in position.
Flower-buds large, long, oblong-conic, plump, usually appressed; blossoms open very late; flowers three-fourths inch across, dark pink; pedicels short, glabrous, pale green; calyx-tube dull, dotted reddish-green, orange-red within, campanulate, glabrous; calyx-lobes short, broad, obtuse, glabrous within, heavily pubescent without; petals roundish-ovate, notched near the base, tapering to short, narrow, white claws; filaments one-fourth inch long, equal to the petals in length; pistil pubescent toward the base, equal to the stamens in length.
Fruit matures in mid-season; about two and one-fourth inches in diameter, roundish-cordate to somewhat oval, very slightly compressed, with nearly equal halves, bulged near the apex; cavity wide, abrupt or flaring, often tinged with red and with tender skin; suture variable in depth, extending more than half-way around; apex roundish, with a prolonged, recurved, mamelon tip; color orange-yellow, with specks and splashes of red, blushed with darker red; pubescence thick, short, variable in coarseness; skin tough, adherent to the pulp; flesh yellow, stained red at the pit, dry, stringy, tender, somewhat meaty, strongly aromatic, pleasantly flavored; good in quality; stone free, one and one-fourth inches long, seven-eighths inch wide, oval, bulged along the ventral suture, with pitted surfaces; ventral suture deeply furrowed along the edges, narrow; dorsal suture grooved, somewhat flattened.