Note: Information is dated. Do not rely on it.

Peach. A stone fruit native to China. It has been cultivated from the earliest times, reaching Europe by the way of Persia, hence its name, Prunus persica. The tree is small and much-branched, about fifteen to twenty feet high. It is nearly as hardy as the apple, but, owing to its early blooming habit, its successful commercial culture is limited to comparatively few localities, as, in America, the eastern and southern shores of the Great Lakes, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland, northern Georgia and Alabama, parts of Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, and eastern Texas, and all of California. Peaches are propagated from the seed, the trees bearing about the third year. Under the most favorable conditions the tree seldom reaches thirty years, commercial orchards usually lasting about ten. The fruit is usually classified as clingstone and freestone. The fruit is a drupe, varying much in size and color of flesh and downy skin. It is used as a dessert, for canning, and in the manufacture of peach brandy.

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