It is quite refreshing in these days of shams to find now and then a
genuine article; to find that a fruit, for instance, which has been put
forth under certain claims and pretensions turns out to possess all the
good qualities claimed for it—that all is not mere pretence, but
reality. Three or four years ago we were shown a peach by one of our
members, Mr. Allen Moyer, which was then ripe, it was July, and informed
by him that he had taken it from a tree growing in a fence corner on the
farm of Mr. High, not far from Jordan Station. We were not then
permitted to taste it, but noted that the sample was of good size, and
well colored. We were surprised to learn that so large and so early
ripening a variety should be found under such circumstances, and
ventured the caution that some unnatural cause had brought about a
premature ripening. Last year, (1877,) we went with Mr. Moyer to see the
tree on the first of August, and found it loaded with fruit which was
just ripe, and found that in point of quality and general character, it
bore a strong resemblance to Hale’s Early, but ripening some time before
that variety.
Meanwhile it seems that this variety has been placed in the hands of Mr.
Chas. Downing, Newburg, N. Y., and Mr. J. H. Watkins, of Palmetto,
Georgia, and from the August number of the _Gardener’s Monthly_ we learn
that Mr. Watkins has fruited, on the same tree, Alexander, Amsden,
Honeywell, Early Canada, Brigg’s May, Beatrice, Louise, and Rivers, and
he says of them “that in appearance the four first named were strikingly
similar, the Honeywell slightly smaller, but equal to any in flavor,
with the exception, possibly, of the Early Canada, which showed the
highest color. If there was any difference at all in the earliness of
the first four peaches, the Early Canada certainly had it; the Canada is
almost a perfect free-stone, adheres very slightly, unlike the others in
this respect, so far as I had an opportunity to examine. The hardiness
of trees, quality, and appearance of fruit, size, flavor, &c., will
determine which is most suitable for general cultivation, the Alexander,
Amsden, Honeywell, or Early Canada, as the slight difference in time,
when it exists, is of no practical value.”
Mr. Downing says, “My experience with Alexander, Amsden, Honeywell, and
Early Canada, with two years fruiting, is about the same as Dr. Watkins,
and, as I have before stated, if the four kinds were put in a dish, it
would puzzle a good pomologist to separate them, and yet there is no
doubt but that they are all distinct kinds.”
It may be then set down as an ascertained fact that the Early Canada is
as early, as large, and of as good quality as the Alexander, Amsden or
Honeywell, while to us it has the additional quality of being a native
of our climate, and therefore likely the better to bear its peculiar
vicissitudes. We trust our cultivators will yet take the peach in hand,
and give us a race of Canadian seedlings, hardier, healthier, and better
than imported sorts.
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