In 1976, W. Lane and M. Maheriuk reported on a 3-year study 

 [ Can. J. Plant Sci . 56:847-851) in which they compared the fruit 

 characteristics o£ Dewar, Macspur, and Morspur with those of Summer- 

 land Red Mcintosh. They found no differences in stem-associated 

 defects (short, long, fleshy) except that flat stem cavities occurred 

 more frequently on the fruits of spur strains in 2 of the 3 years. 

 Measurements of fruit length and diameter showed that the fruits of 

 the spur strains were as uniform in shape as those of Summerland Red, 

 but they tended to be longer and larger. Also in some instances, the 

 fruits of the spur strains were softer and had less soluble solids 

 (sugar content), probably because they were larger. In general, the 

 study showed that the fruits of the spur strains differed slightly 

 from those of Summerland Red and that the differences among the 4 

 strains were less than the variations in strains from year to year. 



A********* 



VARIABILITY IN MACSPUR STRAIN OF MCINTOSH 



J. W. Swales 



Horticulturist, Research Station 



Summerland, British Columbia 



In 1967 Horticulturists became aware of a spur-type sport of 

 Mcintosh in the Mervyn Greenslade orchard at Summerland, B.C. 

 That sport, a whole tree, received a great deal of publicity as it 

 appeared to be the first spur-type Mcintosh which produced commer- 

 cially-acceptable fruit and which possessed desirable growth char- 

 acteristics . 



Propagating rights for this sport, named Macspur, were obtained 

 by Hilltop Orchards and Nurseries of Michigan. The British Columbia 

 Fruit Growers Association obtained propagating rights on behalf of 

 the tree-fruit industry and nurseries of British Columbia. 



Since the discovery of Macspur numerous other spur-type sports 

 have been found in various B.C. orchards. Propagating rights for 

 those which appeared most promising were picked up by nurseries. 

 Consequently, today there are several spur-type Mcintosh strains being 

 propagated in North America. 



Macspur is the spur-type strain of Mcintosh that has been most 

 extensively planted in B.C. during the 1970's as it is the strain 

 selected by the B.C.F.G.A. and propagated in their budwood orchard 

 for distribution to B.C. orchardists and nursery operators. 



In a few of the earlier plantings of Macspur it was noted that 

 the occasional tree would lack spur-type characteristics. For some 

 time it was thought that mixing of spur-type and standard Mcintosh 

 trees had occurred. However, during the past 2 years it has been 

 observed that the incidence of standard Mcintosh trees in plantings 

 of Macspur has increased significantly; in one extreme case over 

 25% of the trees in a Macspur planting exhibit the type of growth 

 that is characteristic of standard Mcintosh. On the other hand, there 

 are many blocks of Macspur where the trees exhibit a high degree of 

 uniformity. 



