Fruit matures early; two and one-sixteenth inches long, two and one-eighth inches wide, oval to round, compressed, the halves unequal; cavity medium to deep, wide, abrupt; suture shallow, deeper at the base; apex roundish or depressed, with a mucronate tip; color greenish-yellow changing to deep yellow, heavily blushed with red, indistinctly striped, with conspicuous, large dots; pubescence short, stiff, thick; skin thick, tough, adhering to the pulp; flesh light yellow mingled with faint stripes of red radiating from the pit, juicy, stringy, tender, sweet, highly flavored; very good in quality; stone clinging, one and three-sixteenths inches long, three-fourths inch wide, narrow-oval, plump, with short, acute apex, the surfaces pitted and with few short grooves; ventral suture slightly winged, rather widely furrowed; dorsal suture a deep, narrow groove. BELLE =1.= _Ga. Sta. Bul._ =42=:233. 1898. =2.= _Am. Gard._ =21=:852. 1900. =3.= _Ga. Sta. Rpt._ =13=:308. 1900. =4.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 35. 1909. _Belle of Georgia._ =5.= _Am. Gard._ =17=:67. 1896. =6.= _Ohio Sta. Bul._ =170=:172, 173 fig. 1906. _Georgia._ =7.= _Am. Pom. Soc. Cat._ 33. 1899. =8.= _Del. Sta. Rpt._ =13=:99, 100 fig. 5. 1901. Belle elicits praise from all who know it because of the great beauty of its fruits. At its best it is one of the glories of the peach-orchard, the fruits being large, trim in contour, creamy-white, with a beautiful crimson cheek--truly voluptuous in form and color. The color-plate--made in a poor season--falls far short of doing the fruits justice in size and art cannot depict the soft tints of red and cream which make Belle so beautiful. The fruits are as enticing to the eye inwardly as outwardly, the white flesh being delicately marbled, tinted with red at the pit and the flesh and pit usually part cleanly. Unfortunately, appearance misrepresents quality; for the variety, while good, falls short in flavor, and the flesh is stringy so that it must be rated as not above the average for its type. The trees are large, open-headed, a little straggling, fast-growing and hardy, though, like most of its type, easy prey to leaf-curl. Belle prefers a southern climate and in the South is often a good commercial sort but in New York is grown only for local markets and home use, hardly equalling Champion as a white-fleshed peach for distant markets.