North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["kieran or donna" <redherring@tnaccess.com>]

http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/maia/newsletter/1999.html

Nick,  Here is the newsletter where they talk about odds of getting really
good trees, and increasing those odds via seedling selection, with paragraph
headings like these (I know the first will whet your appetite!):


BIG Leaves = BIG Apples
Late Leafing Out Equals Late Bloomers
Scab & Early Detection
Inheritance Predictions
Elusive Flavor Intensity

And I don't think they will mind too much if I copy this for your enjoyment:

Mind Out Of Box
Most of us suffer from the constraints of conventional thinking but when the
English apple growers, who all depend heavily on Cox Orange Pippin as their
number one apple, went to the researchers for a brainstorming session on how
to simplify Cox production they came up with a stroke of genius. One of the
complaints was that it required, like most apples, the accompanying
inefficiencies supporting cross pollination trees. Someone suggested they
plant several thousand Cox trees (remembering there is safety in numbers and
that apples have enormous diversity) on an island off the coast where there
were no apple trees and watch for a limb to produce apples. If this were to
happen it would have to come from a self-fertile mutation. They did it and
"bingo" a limb with apples appeared and today they all grow a self-fruitful
Cox without the hassle of pollinator varieties or bees.