First and Last apple

[Mell]

From National Apple Registry

First & Last (1)

refs Bar, Dow, Hogg p76, JRHS, MAT, SO

Sts in NFT collection if true (not sure what that means ! stated not there now)

Prv England originated near Horsham, Sussex

Date First described c 1860

Des Size medium to large 64-71:51-60mm; shape intermediate, rectangular to truncate-conic, convex, slightly ribbed at eye,; skin lemon yellow flushed red, streaked and blotched darker red, some russet;flesh crisp, fine, greenish white;flavour sweet subacidic;season very late

First & Last (2)

refs Bar no390, JRHS

Sts Exhibited 1883 (only record)

Prv Exhibited by Lane, nurseryman, Berkhamstead, Hertfordshire

Des Size medium ; shape intermediate, rectangular , convex, ribbed on body,; skin pale yellow ; flesh soft; season early

So FB does that add anything for you & which do you think you've got ?

[Mell]

BAR refs here http://chla.library.cornell.edu/cach...00199.tifs.gif

[FB.]

Thanks, Mell.

I think that mine is the first one - late season, partial russet, from Sussex.

Any indications on how well it stands up to pests or diseases?

(I think that pests and diseases are more problematic nowadays because the whole world grows just a few varieties and the diseases evolve to become "perfect pathogens" against apples that are widely-planted. It's nature's way of encouraging new apple varieties from a diverse genetic background).

[Mell]

Thanks, Mell.

I think that mine is the first one - late season, partial russet, from Sussex.

Any indications on how well it stands up to pests or diseases?

(I think that pests and diseases are more problematic nowadays because the whole world grows just a few varieties and the diseases evolve to become "perfect pathogens" against apples that are widely-planted. It's nature's way of encouraging new apple varieties from a diverse genetic background).

Nothing on pests etc as yet

Maybe in which case the perfect attack is via the rootstock !

[FB.]

Actually, I think that MM106 and M25 show less disease resistance than MM111 simply because 106 and 25 are very widely used.
With 111 being quite rare, the pests and diseases haven't had much opportunity to evolve to attack it and don't really need to evolve to attack it because of vast numbers of 106 and 25 rootstocks.

In my area, woolly aphid are a serious pest and I believe that the woolly aphids are adapting to attack the MM rootstocks - because the MM rootstocks have been used for many years and so the woolly aphid had to adapt or die.
In fact, I generally have less WAA problems on M25 than on the MM rootstocks.

Additionally, I find that Bramley is extremely prone to woolly aphid - again, probably because strains of woolly aphid have evolved to specialise in attacking the huge numbers of Bramleys around the country.
I also find that many of the Cox's offspring are especially attractive to WAA, probably because Cox is so widely grown and the WAA have developed a taste for Cox.

[Mell]

Exactly the attack is on the commoner rootstocks, wheras in the 19th C each rootstock could differ

Evolution is not driven by need, but by oppertunity, should a mutation occur which is biologically fitter for the enviroment it finds itself in it out breeds the competition. More oppertunities for just the right mutationwhere there are more of an environment eg MM106, if a perfect WA mutation happened to occur far from an MM111 it would be stuffed !

I had a few trees with a lot of woolly aphid this year, but as most are on MM106, the scion stock seems to be the part under attack. , this was also interesting to see on a family tree.

[FB.]

Exactly the attack is on the commoner rootstocks, wheras in the 19th C each rootstock could differ

Yes. There was much to be said in favour of seedling rootstocks, with each one having a unique combination of genes that helps kept the pests and diseases at fairly low levels.

As time has passed, I have realised that a large number of apple varieties have partial scab resistance to varying degrees. However, in regions where those varieties are widely grown, the local scab strains are specialised to attack the specific host, resulting in loss of resistance.

This disease-host specialisation seems to be almost on the basis of there being scab strains that have perfected the ability to attack certain varieties, yet those strains of scab have no ability to break through the partial resistance of a different (unrelated) variety.

[Mell]

The eventual outcome might well mimick paratites which are very species specific, where the host develops a resistance and the parasite lives within that, and removal is detremental, see the interesting work on primate roundworms and hayfever ashma !