Peaches were introduced to the New World following the Spanish conquest.
In North America, it was only after the American Revolution in the 1770s when clonal propagation of peaches became a common technique.
Several peach cultivars were released between the 1770s and 1860s from selected seedling of unknown parentage.
A number of cultivars of unknown origin were released in the first half of the 1800s including Early Crawford, Late Crawford and Oldmixon Cling.
About 1850, Charles Downing introduced peaches directly from China to North America, from which emerged the Chinese Cling. After Civil War, Samuel Rumph planted Chinese Cling in Marshallville, Georgia and released two important cultivars from that field, Elberta and Belle of Georgia.
Chinese Cling and its seedlings such as Elberta, Belle of Georgia, J.H Hale and their derivatives became important peach cultivars throughout the USA.
The history of peaches in United States
