These are smooth peaches, lacking the soft
hairy down, that is a marked peculiarity of the true peaches. They occur
in different [138] races of the peach. As early as the beginning of the
past century, Gallesio described no less than eight subvarieties of
nectarines, each related to a definite race of peach. Most of them
reproduce themselves truly from seed, as is well known in this country
concerning the clingstones, freestones and some other types. Nectarines
have often varied, giving rise to new sorts, as in the case of the white
nectarine and many others differing greatly in appearance and flavor. On
the other hand it is to be remarked, that the trees do not differ in
other respects and cannot be distinguished while young, the varietal
mark being limited to the loss of the down on the fruit. Peaches have
been known to produce nectarines, and nectarines to yield true peaches.
Here we have another instance of positive and negative steps with
reference to the same character, but I cannot withhold an expression of
some doubt as to the possibility of crossing and subsequently splitting
up of the hybrids as a more probable explanation of at least some of the
cases quoted by various writers.
Smooth or glabrous varieties often occur, and some of them have already
been cited as instances of the multiplication of varietal names.
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