North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Christopher Mauchline" <mauch1@aol.com>]

Joe, 

You don't need to justify them to me.  I was just suprise that you 
were unhappy w/ varieties like Ashmead's Kernel which always seems to 
get rave reviews for taste (and did well at a mini-apple tasting I 
did this Fall).

Chris Mauchline
SE PA, zone 6

--- In nafex@egroups.com, jhecksel@v... wrote:
> Hello all:
> 
> I feel a need to justify my culling philosophy.
> 
> Among other things, I raise sheep.  The sheep industry is in the 
midst
> of a massive shake-out.  One of the rallying cries is "Are your 
animals
> working for you?  Or are you working for your animals?"  Sheep are
> adorable little critters.  Occasionally, one of the ewes will 
abandon
> her lambs and the shepherd will bottle feed the little lambs.  The 
risk
> is that the shepherd (or family) will bond to the helpless lambs and
> will insist on their inclusion in the breeding flock.  Some portion 
of
> mothering ability is learned.  A portion is purely due to 
circumstances
> (lightening strikes, for instance).  A large portion is 
genetic....at
> least for sheep.  Keeping abandoned lambs (and their mothers) in the
> breeding flock virtually guarantees poor mothering.  It only takes 
a few
> generations before the shepherd becomes a slave to the flock rather 
than
> the flock being seamlessly integrated into the farm economy and 
making a
> positive contribution.
> 
> Soooo, I perceive that the same thing can happen with fruit.  
Sometimes
> it is that peach tree in Zone 5b that I must give mouth-to-mouth
> resuscitation.  Sometimes it is a cultivar (Cox Orange Pippen 
springs to
> mind) of notable quality and fussiness of culture.  That is well and
> good for those of us who know what we are getting into and we know 
that
> we are buying lottery tickets.  I buy my share of lottery tickets 
but I
> tear them up when I have sufficient evidence they are losers, that 
is,
> they will not seamlessly integrate into my "farm" economy and make a
> positive contribution.
> 
> 
______________________________________________________________________
_________
> 
> Slightly different topic:  Ed, what "basics" do you see novice fruit
> growers most often violating?   I offer poor choice of
> species/cultivar/rootstock, planting in shady sites, and no after-
care
> as the boo-boos I see most often.
> -- 
> 
>                                                      -Joe Hecksel
>                                                       Eaton Rapids,
> Michigan


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