The Annual Review of New Fruits 
T ESTING NOVELTIES.—Of the thousands of tree 
.uni small fruits described in potnologlcal litera¬ 
ture not one in a hundred succeeds in commercial 
plantations and but few become favorites in home 
orchards. So great are the discouragements of these* 
failures fruit growers hesitate to plant novelties. 
Neither will nurserymen grow them for 
sale until the newcomers have estab¬ 
lished good reputations. Yet someone 
must originate and test fruits, for 
progress in pomology largely depends 
on new varieties. Had there been no 
novelties during the past 100 years, 
American pomology would l*e primitive 
indeed: a hundred years from now our 
descendants will say the same. All 
can agree that the work of originating 
and testing should be done by the ex¬ 
periment stations. Producing and try¬ 
ing new fruits is a most delightful 
hobby for fruit growers, but growers 
who have the desire, knowledge, money 
and time for the task are few. More¬ 
over, for the good of fruit growing, it 
is best that unprejudiced workers 
originate and test new varieties; for a 
man is almost as certain to be preju¬ 
diced in favor of a fruit of bis own as 
he is of a child of his own. But a 
station worker should be able to test 
with impartial hand, and so discover 
and report the merits and defects of 
new fruits. The New York Station at 
Geneva has from its foundation 40 
years ago collected, grown and com¬ 
pared new varieties of fruits, and for 
the past .'10 years has been actively 
engaged in originating new varieties of 
tree, bush and vine fruits. From year 
to year for some years the writer has 
been reporting on these fruits in bulle¬ 
tins and in The It. N.Y.. with the result that there 
are many requests as to where the new varieties can 
lx obtained. Trouble begins at once. 
A TESTING ASSOCIATION —Nurserymen do not 
handle novelties. For examples, this station has 
I ecu recommending for several years the Imperial 
Epineuse and Agen plums, the Boorman gooseberry 
and June and Ontario raspberries as tbe best of 
these fruits for New York, yet no Eastern nursery¬ 
men offer the plums, and only a few sell the berries 
We have tried in vain to get nur 
aery men to list several new 
grapes, better than any others of 
their kind and season, as tried 
in several parts of the State. 
Nurserymen find profits more 
immediate and greater in selling 
standard varieties than in intro¬ 
ducing novelties. Inability to 
get new fruits introduced is the 
greatest discouragement, stations 
have in originating and testing 
varieties. To overcome this dif 
Acuity New York fruit growers 
have organized the. New' York 
• State Fruit Testing Association, 
to which growers in this and 
other States may belong by send 
ing a dollar for membership dues 
to It. Wellington, Experiment 
Station, Geneva. N. Y. It should 
be said at once that the amount 
of stock on hand at present is 
somewhat limited and that New 
York members will be supplied 
first. The Association sells nur 
sery stock at cost of production. 
Members are permitted to multi 
pl\ varieties and dispose of them 
.as they may see tit—the faster 
the lietter. This introduction 
brings us to the list of note¬ 
worthy fruits for 1921. A few 
can Ik* had from nurserymen. 
The others are being propagated 
by the New York Fruit Testing 
Association. 
APPLES.—The Cortland is a 
seedling of Ben Davis crossed 
will McIntosh, which originated 
i t 1899 at the Geneva Station. 
The fruits resemble those of McIntosh—if anything 
more attractive. On heavy clay soils where McIn¬ 
tosh fails to color well Cortland attains a very high 
color. The quality of the two apples is much the 
same, Cortland being as good as McIntosh, while 
the apples are larger and a brighter red. The 
Si* 
' -% ‘ 
, \ ‘..S' ,«• 
A Hig Haiti win from Wayne County, N. V. Fig. 15// 
variety promises to lie a valuable commercial apple 
ami extends the season of McIntosh two weeks or 
longer. The Tioga originated at the Geneva Station 
in 1900 as a seedling of Sutton crossed with Northern 
Spy. r ITie flavor of this apple, when it, first ripens, 
may be too sprightly for some tastes, but when fully 
mature the apple loses much of its acidity and is 
excellent. Tioga is of the type of Northern Spy, 
but is unlike either parent in color. The apple is 
attractive yellow, occasionally blushed with pinkisu 
Springtime—the Season of Youth. Fig. 155 
red. It comes in season in December, and lasts until 
March. This variety is promising because of appear¬ 
ance, quality and vigorous growth. 
PEAll.—The Cayuga pear is a seedling of Seckel, 
Which originated at the Geneva Station in 1907! 
Out of a thousand or more Seckel seedlings which 
have been growing on the Station 
grounds, several have proved worthy of 
propagation. The one named Cayuga 
is particularly promising. The pears 
are much larger than those of Seckel, 
approaching the size of Bartlett, and 
are not unlike those of Anjou in shape. 
The color is greenish-yellow with a 
handsome blush. While the flavor is 
quite distinct from that of Seckel. it is 
rated as excellent and is fully equal 
to that of our best standard varieties. 
Cayuga ripens the last of ■September 
and keeps in ordinary storage well 
through October. 
PEP MS.—Imperial Epineuse is not a. 
new variety. It. was found in France 
in 1870, and during recent years has 
been sold by Western nursery com¬ 
panies. The writer has been reconir 
mending it for several years. The 
variety has proved so very satisfactory 
in both fruit and tree characters at. the 
Geneva Station that it. has been propa 
gated for distribution by the Fruit 
Testing Association. The mature trees 
are large, vigorous, hardy and produc¬ 
tive, and the fruit is excellent in 
quality. This is the best variety in 
the station collection of nearly flOO 
sorts. Pacific Is another of the older 
varieties. Its fruits are so good in 
quality and handsome in appearance 
that the variety is most worthy of 
propagation. Its chief fault is that tin* 
trees lack somewhat in vigor and hardiness, but .they 
are very productive. Under favorable conditions the 
variety may prove highly successful. Agen is an- 
other French plum originated many years ago, hut 
ne\ei distributed in Eastern America, although if 
is the leading plum in California. The trees are 
productive and the fruit hangs well after it ripens. 
It is one of the best of all dessert plums, although 
tin fruits lack somewhat in size. 
■CHERRIES.—The Chase cherry is supposed to 
have originated more than .‘50 
years ago in the town of Riga, 
Monroe County, New York. It 
was introduced to the trade by 
Chase Brothers Company of 
Rochester under the name Riga, 
but inasmuch -us there is another 
sour cherry under that name 
which was brought to America 
from Riga, Russia, the name of 
this one, with the consent of the 
introducers, has been changed to 
Chase. The variety has many 
characters in common with the 
English Morello. The trees, how¬ 
ever, have a larger head and are 
less drooping, and are more pro¬ 
ductive than those of the English 
Morello. The foliage, too, is 
healthier than that of English 
Morello and hangs to the tree 
longer. The stems of the fruit 
are short, and the fruit hangs 
exceptionally vvel 1 throughout the 
season, and when allowed to 
hang can often he picked In Sep¬ 
tember in prime condition. Where 
English Morello thrives, Chase 
can he recommended as probably 
better. 
GRAPES. —Four varieties of 
grapes which have originated in 
recent years at the Geneva Sta¬ 
tion have proved so satisfactory 
in every way that they have been 
named and are now being dis¬ 
tributed by the Fruit Testing As¬ 
sociation. These areas follows: 
B roe ton originated as a cross 
between Brighton and Station 
(Continued on page 960) 
