11 - 



reared by a New ^lersey Dept. of Agriculture lab and may ultimately be 

 available for purchase from private sector insectaries. Much information is 

 needed concerning the ability of th !se lab-reared predators to survive in 

 sprayed orchards, optimal release "ates and timing, release techniques, 

 etc., before it will be possible to augment our biological mite control 

 agents on a large scale. 



SPENCER REVISITED 



Wesley R, Autio 



Department of Plant and Soil Sciences 



Univeristy of Massachusetts 



The Spencer ajple was recommended strongly at one time for trial in 

 Massachusetts but never gained a great deal of popularity. It is a large, 

 high quality apple with white, crisp flesh which ripens slightly later than 

 Baldwin, It has a red blush ove - 50 to 80 percent of the fruit surface. 

 Spencer originated as a cross of hiclntosh and Golden Delicious made in 1929 

 at the Summerland Researcli Station in British Columbia. The first trial 

 plantings were established in 19^1 and 19^*2 (1), and they found Spencer 

 fruit to be of very high quality and to store better than Mcintosh. 

 However, it was no; released immediately, because data from some locations 

 suggested that it had a tendency to develop excessive breakdown and core 

 'lush during storace (1). It finally was named and released in 1959 at the 

 •equest of Professor O.C. Roberts of the University of Massachusetts. 



The first planting in Massachusetts (1950) was on Orchard Hill at the 

 Amherst campus of the University. Fruit from this planting were very high 

 quality and did not experience excessive breakdown or core flush during 

 storage. Professor Weeks considered it to be a late winter apple (2). 



A planting of Spencer trees was established in 196^ at the 

 Horticultural Research Center in Belchertown, MA. Fruit from these trees 

 develop considerable amounts of breakdown during long-term air storage in 

 most years, but early in the storage season the fruit are very high quality 

 for eating and cook ng. Some Massachusetts growers have had reasonable suc- 

 cess with Spencer ii- their CA storages. 



Regardless of the storage potential, the high quality and nice 

 appearance of Spencer fruit suggest that it could be an excellent apple at 

 farm stands and roadside markets for sale in the fall. It is certainly 

 worthy of trial . 



References Cited ; 



1. Fisher, D.V. 1959. The Spencer apple. Fruit Var. Hort. Dig. 14:15-16, 



2. Weeks, W.D, I960. Performance of the Spencer apples in Massachusetts, 



Fruit Var. Hort. Dig. 15:l6. 



