North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[david.maxwell@dal.ca]

Sarah, I wouldn't write off the Canadian Clonal Genebank quite so quickly.  
They will have all 
the Morden cultivars. (I note that you have a number of these already).  I 
know that they also 
have a number of cultivars from Scandinavia, (which will be hardy in Zone 3). 
 Check with 
Margie Luffman.  (They have never gotten around to putting their holdings on 
line, and I am 
not sure there is even a paper copy of what they have, but Margie is 
extremely knowledgable 
and bends over backwards to help.  If she doesn't have it, she will get it.  
For example, I am 
trying to re-create an orchard with French apple varieties which existed in 
1632 (when Simon 
de Rasillly established the first capital of New France at the mouth of the 
LaHave River, and 
planted apple trees at the site.)  Margie has scoured the globe to get me 
grafting wood.  (In 
the interests of full disclosure, while she got budwood, and grafted it to 
trees at Harrow, she 
has in fact been unable to grow them out to be able to supply me with scions. 
 I have 
however gotten wood from another NAFEX member, and will be planting the trees 
at the site 
this spring.  But that is a bit of a digression from my original point: 
Margie likely has it, and if 
she doesn't she will try to get it.)

You are right about the amateurs getting older.  I am pushing 70 myself.  But 
I have managed 
to get a young man locally interested, and I think he will carry on when I 
enter my dottage.  
Perhaps all us old geezers should take on the responsibility of recruiting at 
least one new 
young member to whom to pass the torch...

David Maxwell
Balmy zone 5, Nova Scotia,(although today we have a snowfall up to 30 cm.)