Certainly in New England at this time, Baldwin is very close to scab immune. But not all trees described as Baldwin are necessarily genetically the same. Yes, the organic apples grown in eastern Europe or western Asia would not meet American standards for appearance or other qualities, although consumers seem to accept them. So maybe there is something we don't know.
--- Daniel Cooley <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Mo, you're right about the breeding programs attempting to develop > resistant varieties, but I'm not sure they've done it. > > Some history: up until the last part of the 1800's, with rare > exceptions, the varieties of apples grown commercially were from > chance seedlings. It was common in the early 1800's in New England to > throw a bunch of seeds from cider pomice out and scratch them into > the ground, in a year or two transplant the ones that looked > promising , and then after that see which trees had reasonably edible > fruit. Of course, there were named varieties, in fact, lots of them. > One source I've read suggested that there may have been as many as > 14,000 named apple varieties in the U.S. at the peak in the > nineteenth century. Half the farms in Massachusetts had their own > favorite, I guess. Of course people knew how to graft, and over time > the best varieties displaced Aunt Sally's Pippin. > > A number of years ago while traveling in eastern Europe, I was struck > by the low quality, by my estimation, of the apples being sold in > markets. There were culls, by our standards, that seemed to be > selling just fine. That was the situation in this country, > apparently, until the 1930's and 40's, when it became possible, > primarily by using pesticides, to produce large amounts of very > attractive fruit. And then, of course, it didn't matter as much > whether a variety was resistant to insects and disease on its own. > Flavor and eye appeal became the key selling points. > > Back to varieties, in 1915, 24 varieties accounted for 80% of the > marketed US apple crop. In 1964, 10 varieties accounted for 80%, and > in 1990, it was 7 varieties, with over half the crop being Delicious > or Golden Delicious. I haven't gotten good figures for 2000, but I > bet that trend has reversed. The recent increase in the number of > marketed varieties is thanks to breeding programs. (And all the new > foodies and gourmets that seem to be around now!) In my opinion, > however, most of the success in breeding has been with cultivars that > will sell on the basis of taste qualities. The breeding done for > disease resistance hasn't produced a real winner on the level of say > Gala or Braeburn. In fact, most of the popular new cultivars and > rootstocks tend to be more susceptible to fire blight. > > Even if we were to get a high quality, disease-resistant cultivar or > two, there's always a danger that it won't last. Bill McHardy tells a > story in his treatise on apple scab about the Baldwin. In 1915, the > two top varieties in the Northeast were Baldwin and Ben Davis, and > both were considered virtually immune to scab. Unfortunately, an > ominous harbinger of things to come was seen in Sodus, NY in 1910 > when there was a scab outbreak on Baldwins. By 1940, Baldwins were > considered as susceptible to scab as other varieties. This indicated > some sort of shift in the fungus that enabled it to attack Baldwin. > This sort of thing happens all the time in the world of wheat and > rice, among other crops, but it can also happen in apples. > > Sorry to rattle on so long - but you did ask something about apple > breeding and disease! > > Dan > > > ________________________________________________________ > Daniel R. Cooley 413-577-3803 > Dept. of Plant, Soil & Insect Sci. [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Fernald Hall 103 > University of Massachusetts > Amherst, MA 01003 FAX 413-545-2115 > > http://people.umass.edu/dcooley/ > > > On another topic, the federal law governing organic foods was recently amended by lobbyists hired by some manufacturers. This will allow synthetic ingredients to be added to organic-labeled foods. If this is important to you, please visit my website, www.RestoreOrganicLaw.org --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The 'Apple-Crop' LISTSERV is sponsored by the Virtual Orchard <http://www.virtualorchard.net> and managed by Win Cowgill and Jon Clements <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. Apple-Crop is not moderated. Therefore, the statements do not represent "official" opinions and the Virtual Orchard takes no responsibility for the content.
