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Sustaining the Apple Industry with New Cultivars
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In last October's issue of the Plant & Pest Advisory (Fruit Edition 3(26): 2) we provided a summery of
the performance of many cultivars in the 1995 planting of the North East Cooperative Regional Project
(NE-183). This apple cultivar trial was established at the Rutgers, Snyder Research and Extension
Farm in Pittstown, NJ to evaluate new apple varieties being introduced to the industry. An extensive
screening by university personnel nationwide has quickly identified the strengths and limitations of
these cultivars. New high quality cultivars will determine the sustainability of the ever-evolving apple
industry.
1999 started off as another early season, with extremely mild temperatures dominating February and
into March, causing trees to break bud about two weeks early again this spring. Below average
temperatures were experienced during most of the month of April and May, which slowed bud
advancement, and allowed bloom to settle into the traditional window for our region. After the roller
coaster spring, we then experienced a season long drought, which became the second driest summer in
recorded history.
A hot, dry summer quickly highlighted and exposed any physiological disorders these new cultivars
may possess, such as cork, sunburn sensitivity and pre-harvest drop.
In 1999 extensive data was collected for fruit quality and tree performance of all cultivars under
evaluation in this trial. This was the third fruiting year for this planting. The following is a listing of
the cultivars under evaluation in the 1995 NE-183 trial, and notable features for each.
A four point rating system is used to qualify each selection's performance to date. Four pluses are
outstanding, and one plus indicates it has not performed well at our location. The harvest date is in
parentheses. The observations and ratings are based on a summary of three years of fruit observation
at the Snyder Farm planting.
Cultivar performances of the 1995 NE-183 trial through year five at the Pittstown,
NJ site
Breaburn (10-29)
A perennial producer of high quality fruit. Fruit load management in the early years may be key to
attaining adequate canopy volume that produces annual quality, especially on dwarfing rootstocks.
This cultivar is sensitive to powdery mildew, mites and flesh corking (calcium disorder). (+++1/2)
Yataka (Fuji) (10-13)
Fuji types that possesses variable ripening between years. Tree vigor is weak to moderate. Cultivar has
good potential in our region if properly managed. (+++)
Arlet (9-9)
Although fruit finish was off the mark this year with heavy surface russet and reduced red color,
This cultivars eating quality has been outstanding every year. Tree vigor is moderate with a tree
structure similar to Gala. (+++)
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