North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

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

Nick, You are in Maine?  I just noticed that they go on to say:
"In some apple breeding programs selecting only the largest leaves biases
the progeny in favor of triplolds which really enhances fruit size but
triplolds in continental climates have a poor record with regard to both
winter injury and spring frost damage. Jonagold, Mutsu, Spigold, and Stayman
Winesap, all triploids. were completely lost in the April 10, 1997 freeze
through the Midwest."
So... you might want to ask around and see if triploids do better in Maine,
as it is cold but is definitely not the Midwest. Also you can enhance
survival in your tree by where you plant it, a microclimate with fewer temp
swings or less exposure to winds, but on the other hand maybe it should also
be tested in a bad location.  And of course, you could induce early fruiting
by grafting or budding a peice of it to a fruiting size tree, saving the
original for virus free scions.    Donna