THE ELBERTA has long been the standard of comparison in peaches, like sterling in silver. Elberta yields bountifully, looks attractive, has a free stone, and flourishes in different climates. It is not perfect, however, and for more than a decade we have been breeding new peaches to get one that will surpass Elberta in resistance to several diseases, hardiness of tree and lower bud, and value for canning, freezing and eating fresh.  Our results indicate that many of the characters lacking in the Elberta can be bred into new varieties―but perhaps not all of them into one variety.  In the future the grower, the processor and the consumer will be able to a greater degree than ever before to select varieties to suit his requirements.

Peach growing as an industry should not be based largely on one variety such as Elberta, but should be able to choose from a number of varieties suited to different seasons of ripening, different requirements of hardiness, and different eating, canning, or freezing requirements. Varieties are needed that resist diseases prevalent in certain localities.

Basic objectives in experiments with peach varieties have been to increase the size of fruit and the average yield. More and more there is is a demand for higher colored fruit. A lengthening of the peach season with productive freestone varieties is desirable. A lengthening of the canning-cling season has been an important objective in California. Never before has there been so much emphasis on improvement in peach flavor for canning, freezing, and preserving as there is at present. Varieties that have been especially high quality for these purposes are being bred.

In the central and southern regions, hardiness to spring frost is a special problem. In Massachusetts, New York and Michigan, hardiness of tree and flower bud is of prime importance. In regions such as southern California, Texas, and Georgia, a tree with a low winter-chilling requirement to break the rest period to break the rest period of buds is essential for dependable production. Shipping quality is first in importance in some regions that are far from markets, but in other places the local markets do not require so firm a fruit. Freestones are preferred throughout the season for eating fresh and for home canning. Perhaps that will always be true.

Consumers now prefer varieties that have a bright red skin, although there is no actual relationship between the amount of red skin color and dessert quality. Yellow-fleshed peaches are in greater demand generally may change sometime, however, and peach breeders keep in mind the possible and most likely requirements 25 years from now.

Several varieties were introduced during the war period. Thousands of seedlings resulting from crosses made before the war have been gone over and the most promising ones selected for further trial. The actual crossing of varieties and the detailed work connected with that process have not been conducted on so extensive a scale as was done just before the war. Lack of workers and demand for work of more immediate in most State experiment stations. Through the study of progeny of crosses made previously much has been learned that should aid in selecting parents to obtain the desired characters in future seedlings.

We now know that when certain parents are used in crosses there will be a wide variation in some characters among the offspring; when other are used the variation is much less. Thus we can estimate the number of progeny desired to obtain the character or combination of characters, desired. In some crosses several thousand offspring seem none too many, whereas in others only 25 may be enough.

A modern method of peach breeding can be illustrated by the development of the Dixigem by the Department. The first peaches to reach Northeastern markets in fairly large quantities have long been those from southern and south-central Georgia. Some of the more popular varieties have been Mayflower, Uneeda, Early Rose, and Early Wheeler (Red Bird) [Hedrick lists these as two separate cultivars, so I hyperlinked them separately. - ASC]. Because of their earliness, these white varieties have been in demand by consumers and have been profitable to the peach grower during certain years. Those who grow them want more dependable bearing, higher yielding, firmer fleshed varieties, and of course they want varieties that as nearly as practicable fulfill the consumer's ideal. When the peach-breeding work at Beltsville was started in 1936 by F.P. Cullinan, one of his major objectives was to breed better peaches for the South. One of the major problems faced that first year was which parents to use in their crosses. Much less was known then than now about the merits of different varieties as parents. About 75 crosses were made in 1936 and several varieties were self-pollinated. Among the many parents used were Halehaven, South Haven, and an unnamed seedling selection of a cross between Admiral Dewey and St. John. This last selection was a result of some of the earliest peach breeding by the Department, a cross made by W.F. Wight in 1920 at South Haven, Mich.

Peach breeding was started in 1936 at Fort Valley, Ga., the center of the major peach regions that specialize in the production of early peaches. When J.H. Weinberger began the work there, he took with him the peach seeds resulting from the crosses made at Beltsville the previous spring. The seeds were germinated and grown in pots in the greenhouse during the late winter, and early spring of 1937. In April 1937, when the danger of frost was over, the trees, then about 18 inches high, were transferred to the field. There they were planted 3 feet apart in rows 12 feet apart. Next came the years of selection of the best progeny. In the meantime other crosses were made at Beltsville, Fort Valley, and in California.

Among the progeny of the 1936 crosses were several that seemed superior to the early-ripening commercial varieties of the same season grown in central Georgia. They could not all be named, but the best one for a particular season and purpose had to be selected through trial year after year. A few trees of each of the more promising progeny were tested on the grounds of the United States Horticultural Laboratory at Fort Valley, some were sent to State experiment stations, and some to the Plant Industry Station at Beltsville. Large tests were made in cooperation with fruit growers in Georgia.

As the testing progressed, some of the selections were discarded each year because of one or more faults. Finally, in 1944, the one tested under the number FV 8―35, resulting from a cross of the unnamed seedling of Admiral Dewey X St. John with the South Haven variety, seemed best for its season. It was named Dixigem, and whatever budwood was available was furnished those who wanted to propagate it. The popularity of Dixigem, is indicated by the 50,000 trees budded in 1944 and 100,000 in 1945. Dixigem is far from being the perfect peach, but it seems superior to other early varieties in the South, where it has been tested most.

Several public institutions and private individuals are engaged in peach improvement in California. The development of freestone varieties of good quality, attractive appearance, and suitability for market and processing purposes is fostered. There is considerable interest in developing cling varieties that ripen earlier and later than the standard midsummer group. The origination of both freestone and cling varieties for southern California, where many standard sorts fail to bear because of lack of enough winter cold, is also a major field of peach improvement.

The University of California has breeding programs at Davis and Riverside. Guy L. Philp, in charge of the peach-breeding work at Davis, is studying the inheritance of the nonoxidizing factor in peaches in connection with the development of varieties especially adapted to freezing; and L.D. Davis is studying the inheritance of high and low gum content of clingstone peaches, since high gum content is associated with gumming and splitpit in certain varieties.

Peach breeding at Riverside is primarily concerned with the origin of peach varieties suitable to the mild winter climate of southern California. J.W. Lesley is responsible for the work at Riverside, and several varieties (Rosy, Golden State, Ramona, Hermosa, and Sunglow) were introduced in 1939. More recently Bonita, a yellow-fleshed freestone maturing before Elberta, has been introduced.

G.P. Weldon, at Chaffey Junior College in Ontario, Calif., has also been breeding varieties for mild winters. The Chaffey, Fontana, and Weldon were introduced in 1938. The Welberta, named in 1946, is a cross between Weldon and Elberta. It resembles Elberta, but it has a shorter chilling requirement and ripens 10 days to 2 weeks earlier. The Armstrong Nurseries, also of Ontario, Calif., have about the same objectives as those described for Riverside and Chaffey Junior College. Their more recent introductions are Robin, Redwing, Meadowlark, and Flamingo, Curlew and Golden Blush were chance seedlings recently introduced by Armstrong Nurseries.

F.A. Dixon made several promising peach selections. Fred Anderson of Merced recently introduced the LeGrand Kim and Kim nectarines. Grant Merrill of Red Bluff made several promising selections of early shipping peaches.

Efforts at the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, under the direction of S.H. Yarnell, are directed primarily toward obtaining superior, early, yellow freestones of dependable production and suited to a mild climate. Particular emphasis has been placed on varieties with desirable fruit and tree characteristics suited to districts where there is not enough winter cold to break completely the rest period of many peach varieties. Five promising selections are being tested for introduction in southern Texas for home use.

The goal of the work at the University of Illinois has been better varieties that ripen earlier and later than Elberta in order to spread the period of harvest. Attention is given to hardiness, firmness of flesh, type of tree, productiveness, disease resistance, and dessert quality in the selection of parents for the different crosses.

The most promising selections―about 100 out of more than 10,000 seedling that have fruited―are given further tests in Illinois and in some Eastern States. Tests of storage and freezing qualities also are made of the most promising selections.

As a result of this program, which is under the direction of M.J. Dorsey, seven promising selections were named in 1946: Prairie Dawn, Prairie Sunrise, Prairie Daybreak, Prairie Rose, Prairie Schooner, Prairie Clipper, and Prairie Rambler.

Hardiness of the tree and flower buds to low temperatures is the chief objective in breeding peaches for Iowa. Several large yellow freestone selections resulting from fourth- and fifth-generation seedling of Hill's Chili seem promising, and budded trees have been put under test. T.J. Maney, who was in charge of the peach breeding until his death in 1945, also obtained several promising hardy yellow-fleshed peaches by crossing peaches with Prunus davidiana, although the flavor and the size of fruit are not ideal. Approximately 1,000 hybrid seedlings have been planted at the Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station; about 10 of them have been propagated for a second orchard test.

Objectives of the program at the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station, under the direction of Stanley Johnston, are:  To combine the excellent appearance and firm, fine texture of Redhaven in a series of varieties with larger size than Redhaven; to obtain in these new varieties a greater resistance to winter cold than is found in present commercial varieties; to originate a series of varieties having the characteristics mentioned above and ripening over a period of 5 weeks before Elberta and 1 week later, and to obtain superior clingstone varieties for use of the commercial canning industry in Michigan. Between the introduction of Redhaven in 1940 and the introduction of Fairhaven in 1946, none has met the standard the station has set for a new peach.

Peach breeding at the Missouri State Fruit Experiment Station, at Mountain Grove, is under the direction of P.H. Shepard. The principal objectives are:  To obtain superior varieties with winter bud hardiness and late blooming; to produce early and medium-early freestone varieties that will stand shipping and that have good quality, production, and texture; to produce an early cling variety that has high quality, firmness, and attractive color; and to obtain better freezing varieties than are now available.

About a dozen medium-early freestone selections are now being tested intensively, and two, the Loring and the Ozark, both of which resulted from the crossing of Frank and Halehaven, were named in 1946. They are medium-early, firm freestones with good color, quality, and texture.

The Frank and Japan Giant Cling have been used extensively in crosses to obtain a better early cling variety. The Japan Giant Cling has transmitted its characteristic of high sugar content to all its offspring.

Peach breeding under J.S. Bailey and A.P. French at the Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment Station has been largely a study of the inheritance of characters, such as types of flowers, glands, and flesh, rather than to develop new varieties. Recently, however, a few seedlings were selected from a selfed Oriole group for further testing.

Some of the main aims of the work at the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station are to study the inheritance of characteristics, develop superior canning and freezing varieties, develop a succession of early commercial varieties, obtain varieties of low acid and tannin content, and get stronger varieties for rootstock purposes.  A special effort is also being made to develop better nectarines. During the war the maintenance of the large collection of species and varieties was of primary concern. During this period selection and breeding were also continued on a limited scale, and several new selections are now ready for more extensive trials. Approximately 35 peach varieties have been developed there since the breeding work started in 1914. The Laterose, a promising white freestone ripening just after Elberta, was named in 1945. Two early yellow-fleshed varieties ripening before Golden Jubilee, the Earlyeast and the Jerseyland, and a yellow freestone midseason one, the Redcrest, were named and released for propagation in 1946. M. A. Blake directs the work at the New Jersey station.

Richard Wellington, G. D. Oberle, and John Einset conduct the peach breeding at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station. The main purpose is to obtain commercial varieties that will be relatively resistant to low winter temperatures, with fruit of high quality and firm flesh. In a latitude like that of New York, winter hardiness of flower buds is extremely important. Another objective is to obtain nonoxidizing or nondarkening varieties for freezing. Efforts to develop superior nectarines are also being made.

The main objective in the breeding work at the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station is to obtain a variety similar to Elberta, plus greater hardiness, larger fruit, and higher quality; and high-quality, yellow-fleshed, early-season varieties. Another ideal is a larger fruited, yellow-fleshed nectarine. W. S. Flory, Jr., and R. C. Moore use selected seedlings as well as named varieties as parents to obtain their objectives in the offspring. Several outstanding selections are being backcrossed or crossed with each other, where this appears feasible from the standpoint of character recombinations. Along with the breeding work, studies are made of genetic characters, determination of “marker” character, and cytological problems in breeding.

One object of the Department’s breeding program is to obtain varieties that yield more bushels of larger peaches than the present varieties, which show considerable genetic difference in this respect. Another objective is to improve the dessert quality of fruit for all purposes and seasons. Freestone peaches with an attractive color are desired. Peaches are bred and tested for resistance to low winter temperatures in the Northern States, for resistance to spring frost in the Central States, and to rapid changes in temperature in the Southern States. Varieties with low winter chilling requirements are being bred for such places as southern areas of Georgia, Texas, and southern California. One of C. O. Hesse’s special objectives in California is to extend the canning-cling season with high-flavored varieties. They should have no red in the flesh and should be resistant to pit splitting and gumming. Resistance to such diseases as bacterial spot and mosaic is an objective for peaches to be grown in areas where these diseases are common.

The Department now has by far the largest breeding program ever carried on. Approximately 36,000 seedlings of controlled crosses were fruited between 1939 and 1946. In 1946 approximately 650, or fewer than 2 percent, of these had been selected as worthy of further trial.

Since 1942 several new varieties have been introduced by the Department. They are described briefly here. The cross that produced the new variety is given in parentheses in each case.

Corona (Libee X Lovell) is a canning-cling variety named in 1942. It ripens just after Phillips Cling. The flesh is firm and fine-grained and the flavor excellent. It was introduced as a result of the breeding work of W. F. Wight in cooperation with Stanford University.

Carolyn (Libbee X Lovell), introduced in 1942, also resulted from the work of Mr. Wight. It is a canning cling and ripens with Gaume. It appears superior to that variety in color and texture of flesh.

Amador (Elberta X Ontario), named and introduced in 1942, also originated from the breeding work at Palo Alto. It is a freestone. It ripens just before Elberta and has an attractive yellow flesh. Its fairly low chilling requirement makes it promising in the southern peach regions.

Cortez (Paloro X Halford I) is a canning clingstone peach named in 1944. The original cross and early trials of the selection were made by Mr. Wight at Palo Alto. The fruit seems excellent for canning, and ripens just before Paloro or with Walton. The fruit is of good size and the flesh is firm and fine-grained with very little red at the pit.

Dixigem ( (Admiral Dewey X St. John) X South Haven) was introduced in 1944. The cross was made at Beltsville but the seed was planted and the selection made at Fort Valley. Dixigem ripens about a week before Golden Jubilee. It is almost a freestone, is yellow-fleshed, firm, and attractive. The quality is excellent. It freezes and cans well.

Dixired (Halehaven selfed) is a yellow, medium-sized, melting-fleshed cling intfoduced in 1945. Like Dixigem, this pollination was also done at Beltsville and the selection made at Fort Valley. It ripens with Uneeda, or about 2 weeks ahead of Golden Jubilee. The flesh is especially firm for its season, the color is attractive, and the flavor good.

Southland (Halehaven selfed), named in 1946, is a yellow freestone variety especially suited to southern regions. It also originated from seeds produced at Beltsville in 1936, but grown at Fort Valley. The Southland is a medium-to-large, firm-fruited peach that ripens at the same time as the Hiley and has a moderate chilling requirement, to break the winter rest period.

Leon Havis is a senior pomologist in the Bureau of Plant Industry, Soils, and Agricultural Engineering, stationed at Beltsville. He is in charge of stone-fruit production and breeding research of the Department.

J. H. Weinberger, a pomologist in the same Bureau, is stationed at Fort Valley, Ga. He is in charge of the United States Horticultural Field Laboratory there.

C. O. Hesse, an associate geneticist of the Bureau, is stationed at Davis, Calif. His work is mainly concerned with fruit breeding investigations which the Department carries on in cooperation with the California Agricultural Experiment Station.

An important goal of the peach breeder is to develop varieties for specific purposes such as seasonal ripening, high yields and quality, attractive appearance, and resistance to diseases.  A first step in “reaching” for a new variety is to transfer the pollen from one parent variety to the flower stigma of another (above, left). The offspring from this process is planted and grown to about 18 inches in the greenhouse during early spring (above, right). When danger of frost is past, the young trees are planted in the field (below, left). The first fruit is usually borne the third summer, when selections are made and only the most promising trees are kept for further testing. At right, below, F. P. Cullinan, of the Plant Industry Station at Beltsville, examines a new peach that shows promise of making a name for itself.