North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Donna &/or Kieran" <holycow@cookeville.com>]

Chex,  I was intrigued to see just how many species there are of
Amelanchiar, and some differences in flavor.  It would be nice to compare
flavor and production of various cultivars, but for many of us disease
resistance is the #1 limiting factor.  Also, I have to wonder about soils,
mineral requirements, etc.  My juneberries wouldn't grow till I added boron,
which was the limiting factor in apple trees here too.
   What we probably need is someone growing all the selections and 
cultivars together for comparison, combined with reports from others who are 
growing them under different conditions.  For example: I really have enjoyed 
watching Chris Inhulsen's huge trial of southern pear varieties in Montezuma 
GA, and hearing his acerbic comments regarding many of the cultivars.  He's 
saved me LOTS of trouble by trialing what turned out to be inferior 
varieties, and what he recommends as good, I can figure really is good.  (He 
really wanted me to try Bierschmidtt and 'Hartman's Special', but there are 
some others he thinks are worth having.  I myself am crazy about '20th 
Century' though it is not precocious and gets a fair bit of blight.)  Lucky 
was sent scions of Spaulding, and as he sent me his leftovers, I now have a 
small tree of Spaulding.  The ONLY reference I can find to Spaulding is 
Raintree Nursery, but I don't really trust nursery hype.  Chris has informed 
me that Spaulding is "tasteless and yucky".  Lucky tells me that 'Korean 
Giant' is tasteless and huge, but Ted Danieki says it's good.  So I'm going 
to save room and hedge my bets not by throwing Spaulding away, but by 
planting it and Bierschmidtt close together.  If I like both, I'll leave 
both to intertwine.  If I dislike Spaulding, I can whack it (and probably 
regraft it).
   Donna