North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Lon J. Rombough" <lonrom@hevanet.com>]

----------
From: ARS News Service <NewsService@ars.usda.gov>
Reply-To: ARS News Service <NewsService@ars.usda.gov>
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 02:35:38 -0400
To: ARS News subscriber <lonrom@hevanet.com>
Subject: Apache Apricot Offers Springtime Sweetness

STORY LEAD:
Apache Apricot Offers Springtime Sweetness

___________________________________________

ARS News Service
Agricultural Research Service, USDA
Marcia Wood, (301) 504-1662, MarciaWood@ars.usda.gov
June 20, 2003
___________________________________________

Apache, a delicious apricot developed by Agricultural Research Service
scientists in California, boasts a sweet, delicate flavor and pleasing
aroma.  The apricot is the result of more than a decade of research by
geneticist Craig A. Ledbetter and technician Louis Vuittonet of the ARS
San Joaquin Valley Agricultural Sciences Center in Parlier, Calif.,
about 200 miles northeast of Los Angeles.

The Apache apricot is the latest in a series of delectable spring and
summertime apricots bred and tested by ARS' California-based tree fruit
researchers.

Apache is about average in size and has an attractive pinkish-orange
skin.  Inside, the orange flesh is smooth and finely textured.  This
apricot is  a "freestone" fruit, meaning that--unlike clingstone
types--Apache's juicy flesh separates easily from the pit, or stone, in
its center.

Apache ripens earlier than any other ARS-developed apricot.  Ready to
harvest in the first week of May, Apache is bound to be a hit,
especially with people who've waited all winter for the taste of
tree-ripened apricots, Ledbetter noted.

To form fruit, Apache needs pollen from other kinds of apricot trees.
But that isn't a problem for growers, because popular apricot varieties
like Katy and Castlebrite are excellent sources of pollen for bees to
carry to Apache flowers. The researchers are now determining precisely
how many of these pollinator trees are needed and how close to Apache
they must be planted.

The team made budwood--for grafting--available to breeders and
nurseries for the first time last year.  Budwood is still available
seasonally from Ledbetter.

Apache ships and stores well and is likely suitable for growing in any
state where commercial apricot orchards are already established.  Apache
is profiled in an article in the June issue of the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's monthly science magazine, Agricultural Research.  The
story about Apache is available on the web at:
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/jun03/fruit0603.htm

ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific research
agency. 
___________________________________________

* This is one of the news reports that ARS Information distributes to
subscribers on weekdays.
* Start, stop or change an e-mail subscription at
www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/subscribe.htm
* The latest news is always at www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm
* NewsService@ars.usda.gov | www.ars.usda.gov/is
* Phone (301) 504-1638 | fax (301) 504-1648