North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

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

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From: ARS News Service <NewsService@ars.usda.gov>
Reply-To: ARS News Service <NewsService@ars.usda.gov>
Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2003 07:10:14 -0400
To: ARS News subscriber <lonrom@hevanet.com>
Subject: Flavorful New Apricot

STORY LEAD: 
Nicole Apricot -- A Flavorful New Fruit From ARS

___________________________________________

ARS News Service
Agricultural Research Service, USDA
Marcia Wood, (301) 504-1662, MarciaWood@ars.usda.gov
August 25, 2003
___________________________________________

The tasty apricot filling in your morning coffee cake or Danish pastry
might someday be made from a flavorful new apricot named "Nicole." This
gourmet fruit is meant for processing into jams, marmalade or fillings
for baked goodies. The specialty apricot is superb for using in these
foods because it keeps its delightful fragrance, exceptionally sweet
flavor and attractive, deep-orange color.

Nicole is the newest apricot from Agricultural Research Service tree
fruit breeder and geneticist Craig A. Ledbetter, based at ARS' San
Joaquin Valley Agricultural Sciences Center in Parlier, Calif. Ledbetter
works in the Postharvest Quality and Genetics Research Unit at the
Parlier center. ARS is the chief scientific research agency of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture.

Ledbetter singled out Nicole from other experimental apricots in 1992.
After testing Nicole trees in Parlier research orchards and examining
hundreds of apricots produced by those experimental trees, he offered
the new variety to growers and breeders this year.

Nicole should flourish in any area where commercial apricots are
currently grown. Trees will produce a bountiful supply of two-ounce
fruit, a typical size for today's apricots.

To form these apricots, Nicole trees require pollen from the flowers of
other apricot trees. That's not unusual for apricots, but it's a
requirement that growers and backyard gardeners will need to keep in
mind when choosing where to plant their new trees.

Budwood, for grafting onto standard rootstocks such as Nemaguard and
Nemared, is available seasonally from Ledbetter for breeders and
researchers to use.
___________________________________________

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