North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Heron Breen <breen@fedcoseeds.com>]

HI Jonathan,
I have a list in my filing cabinet, but some of the trees succumbed to 
vole/other 
rodentia damage after I received it 4 or more years ago. I do not have an 
updated 
list. I spoke with Kent Whealey, director of SSE, a few years ago and asked 
if it 
was okay if I came and collected scionwood. He seemed interested in the 
possibility 
of me coming out to Iowa and helping prune the orchard and taking scions as 
booty 
for helping. This never happened due to the fact I live in Maine and was 
trying to 
start a family etc. I actually proposed a plan where I and a good 
nurseryfriend 
would propagate select varieties from the collection and sell them mailorder 
through SSE seed/rose etc catalog as SSE nursery offerings. Kent never 
expressed 
much interest in this idea. Can't really blame him, as I tend to ask many 
outrageous questions and not second guess the rationality of my thoughts. 
Kent 
thinks I am a little nutty (correct!), and tolerated me because I work for a 
friendly company which frequently cooperates with and buys from SSE wholesale.
My nurseryfriend and his wife have visited the SSE farm many times in the 
fall, and 
I have been there once during a July 5-6 years ago. The White Park cattle are 
worth 
the visit alone. White Park theory kept simple: White Park cattle "roamed" 
wild 
over much of Ireland and Scotland, bearing significant resemblance to cattle 
in 
India. These cattle may be the reason the early Romans named Ireland Alba 
Major 
(alba-white) and Scotland Alba Minor. Their resemblance to Indian cattle is 
explained: White Park cattle are descendents of the original herds brought 
across 
in slow migration from central Asia/Indian subcon with the first "Aryan" 
settlers...40-10,000 years ago! I told Kent this about this theory when I was 
there 
and he hadn't heard it. He just knew their origin was shrouded in the past 
somewhere. Nice theory, very little besides extrapolation to back it up.
 I find these cows unique in habit. The cow is agressive with the bull docile 
and 
shy. Smaller in stature, like semi-dwarf Indian wild cattle. These cattle are 
wild, 
like Indian cows or buffalo. Not domesticated at all. I watched a cow climb a 
fence 
like a ladder to reach a calf seperated, and Kent explained the need for the 
wooden 
fences: wire ain't strong enough. Maybe others elsewhere have tamer ones, and 
maybe 
Kent's worked on calming their wild sides, these buggers did not seem much 
different from those that roamed in Scotland. I still treasure my pictures of 
them, 
although it was one of the few times I felt like I was stealing a soul by 
taking a 
picture. I still get an eerie/great feeling when I look at the photos now. 
sincerely,
Heron Breen
zone 4, Maine  

On Thu Feb 16 15:37 , 'Dyer, Jonathan A.' <dyerja@health.missouri.edu> sent:

>
>
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>Â 
>Does anyone have a 
>list of the cultivars held by the Seed savers exchange heirloom orchard?  
>I'm a member but haven't been able to get a list of the ~700 or so varieties 
>they offer. 
>Â 
>Thanks, 
>
>Â 
>Â 
>Jon 
>Dyer
>Â