None of these seedlings have reached fruiting age yet. This is a long-time 

 project, but a promising one. Once a good quality scab-resistant apple has 

 been produced, the cost of commercial apple production can be greatly 

 reduced, and the home owner might once again find it feasible to grow 

 apples for home use. 



Cherry Breeding 



Sour cherries have been more reliable than the sweet cherries at Durham, 

 New Hampshire. Both types fruit, except following the coldest winters. The 

 duke cherries coming from crosses of the two species are intermediate be- 

 tween the sweets and sours. Belle Magnifique. a duke cherry, has fruits that 

 at Durham have been given a top place in quality for general use. The 

 variety has tended to produce rather light crops. 



Since the trees of Belle Magnifique stand in the orchard among several 

 varieties of both sweet and sour cherries, it was decided to grow open-pollin- 

 2ted seedlings from this duke cherry. It is hoped that a productive cherry 

 with fruits equal to Belle Magnifique can be obtained. About 800 seedlings 

 have thus been started and a few had some blossoms in 1957, though no 

 crop has been harvested yet. This is an extremely variable progeny. Some 

 trees have not survived the first winter in the open field. Others are weak 

 and make little progress, but there are also some that are vigorous though 

 of dwarf stature. Other vigorous tall trees, more nearly resembling the sweet 

 cherry, look rather promising. Whether the open-pollinated seedlings have 

 resulted from self pollination or backcrossing to one and/or both sweet and 

 sour varieties nearby cannot be determined. A controlled pollination trial 

 on Belle Magnifique gave some fruits with sweet cherry, none with sour 

 cherry pollen. There are some promising seedling trees in the group and 

 their fruiting response will be followed with much interest. 



Wild Cherry Crosses 



On November 14, 1952. pollen of the Capulin cherry, collected through 

 the courtesy of the American Consul by Mr. Lee Haines at Ambato, Ecuador, 

 South America, was received by air mail. The pollen was stored in a desic- 

 cator over calcium chloride. The desiccator was held in a refrigerator until 

 late May or early June of the following year when wild black cherry trees 

 flowered at Durham, New Hampshire. Emasculated flowers of the wild black 

 cherry were pollinated with the stored Capulin cherry pollen. A small number 

 of seeds were harvested and following stratification two seedlings grew. 

 Two vigorous trees have resulted and although they blossomed for the first 

 time in 1957, no fruits have set. Whether the trees are hybrids must be 

 proved. If so, it may be possible to develop a cultivated cherry bearing fruits 

 in long clusters. 



Grapes 



A prime requisite for grape production in New Hampshire is early matu- 

 rity. Concord does not mature in the average season. Varieties such as 

 Kendaia, Van Buren, and Fredonia ripen successfully most years only in 



