In California, Centennial is passing from the period of probation to one
of general acceptance as a standard variety. Unfortunately it has not
been well tested in the East but trees growing in a commercial orchard
at Geneva show the variety to be a close competitor, in this instance at
least, with its parent, Napoleon, the mainstay of Sweet Cherry growers
in New York. In some respects it quite surpasses Napoleon. It is larger,
sweeter and better flavored and has a smaller pit. The trees fall short
of those of its well-known parent, however, in being less fruitful. Even
more serious defects are, in the orchard under observation, that
Centennial cracks and is less successful in resisting brown-rot than
Napoleon though it surpasses many other well-known sorts in these
respects. The two varieties under comparison may be further
distinguished by the more oblate fruits of Centennial, by a more
mottled color and by the pits which are longer and more pointed in the
newer variety. Centennial is recommended for home orchards and
experimentally for commercial plantations.
Centennial is a seedling of Napoleon grown by Henry Chapman, Napa,
California. It came in fruit in 1876 but was not introduced until 1885,
Leonard Coates of Napa, California, being the introducer. Despite its
many merits, Centennial did not win a place on the fruit list of the
American Pomological Society until 1899.
Tree large, vigorous, upright-spreading, open-topped, productive;
trunk thick, roughish; branches stout, smooth, brownish, with
many large lenticels; branchlets thick, with internodes of medium
length.
Leaves numerous, large, flattened, long-oval to obovate, thick;
upper surface dark green, rugose; lower surface pale green, thinly
pubescent; apex taper-pointed; margin coarsely serrate, with small
and inconspicuous glands; petiole one and one-fourth inches long,
pubescent, tinged with red, with from two to four large, reniform,
greenish-red, flattened glands, usually on the stalk.
Buds large, long, pointed, plump, free, arranged singly as
lateral buds or in small clusters on short spurs; leaf-scars
prominent; blooming season about the middle of May; flowers one
and one-fourth inches across, usually arranged in twos and threes;
pedicels variable in length averaging one and one-eighth inches,
slender, glabrous, greenish; calyx-tube faintly tinged with red,
obconic, glabrous; calyx-lobes long, acute, glabrous on both
surfaces, reflexed; petals oval, entire, tapering to short, narrow
claws, with a slightly crenate apex; anthers greenish; filaments
one-eighth inch long, shorter than the petals; pistil glabrous,
equal to the stamens in length.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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