North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Douglas Hinds <cedecor@gmx.net>]

On 11/12/2012 3:24 PM, Idell Weydemeyer wrote:
> If someone can tell me what year or issue, we have members who are giving
> awy their magazines so can probably get one for you.
>
> Idell Weydemeyer

*California Rare Fruit Growers Yearbook* for 1973

The original name of the article was "*Indications of Metabolic 
Imbalance in Grafted Trees and their Fruit*" (although it might have 
been "*Indications of Metabolic Imbalance in Budded/Grafted Trees*" but 
the CRFG lost their archives due to a fire or a flood and the last time 
I noticed the article had been renamed to "*The Need to Develop Good, 
True Seedling Fruit Tree**Strains*" or something similar).  However: I 
noticed today that the crfg.org website has been reorganized to link to 
articles about a particular variety, which is obviously not the case, 
and my friend Paul Thomson (the CRFG's founder) died a few years ago.

In any case, my article presented biological principles and concrete 
evidence to the effect that, while spliced together tree parts may 
continue to stay alive, bear fruit and resolve a particular issue (such 
as the relative inability of sweet citrus roots to extract sufficient 
iron from desert soils, or the susceptibility of Key Lime Roots to 
Gummosis as compared to Macrophilia rootstock), alternative solutions 
exist for these problems that do not create irresolvable metabolic 
conflicts (which the head scientist at the USDA's main Experimental 
Station at Beltsville, Maryland confirmed in a letter to me at the time).

But the principle point of my article was to call for:

1.- Research directed at determining what (if any) significant 
differences exist between natural and composite fruit trees (which 
requires understanding which parameters should be measured and how);

2.- How significant are whatever differences are discovered (which would 
require collecting health and performance data for comparable sets of 
living organisms fed the fruit from comparable varieties of both types 
of trees), and

3.- The development of relatively stable strains of high quality, 
productive, disease resistant, seedling fruit tree crops, adapted to a 
variety of climate and soil types.

At the time, I was told "we don't have the genetic competence for it and 
it would take to long.  That was in 1973.  My answer at the time was 
THEN START NOW!

But it wasn't done.  Is that negligent?  A LOT, IMO.

Now, the fact that ALL new fruit varieties are the result of chance 
seedlings or intentional crosses using conventional and evolutionarily 
tested natural biological processes (I am not going to discuss 
transgenic crops at this time).  All anyone has to do is plant the best 
ones, over and over.  That's what your mothers and father did, BTW.  
That's where each and every one of came from (unless we've got a few 
clones subscribed to nafex).

Douglas Hinds

> -----Original Message-----

> From: nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
> [mailto:nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Charles Rhora
> Sent: Monday, November 12, 2012 12:46 PM
> To: 'John McCuan'; 'nafex mailing list at ibiblio'
> Subject: Re: [nafex] Seedling trees
>
> I agree with Mr. Hinds, in prospective and quotes,  not only to apple trees,
> but to any kind of tree, whether it be for food production or ornamental in
> type.  My experience with growing trees from seeds spans over more than 40
> plus years.  I also had belonged to the California Rare Fruit Growers
> Association for many years, but due to water damage, loss most of my
> articles, including years books.  I only have the book they put out on paw
> paw's in my collection.  I would be interested in someone who is presently a
> member of this organization to try and obtain a copy of the same article
> that Mr. Hinds mentioned.
> I am in the nursery business, and have orchards of edible nut pine trees,
> deciduous edible nut trees, minor fruits, and rare and unusual trees, as
> well as accessories.
> My climatic zone is 4 (temperatures down to -35 degrees F.) in the winter.
>
> Charles Rhora,
> Rhora's Nut Farm & Nursery.
>
> www.nuttrees.com
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
> [mailto:nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of John McCuan
> Sent: Monday, November 12, 2012 1:38 PM
> To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
> Subject: [nafex] Seedling trees
>
>
> I find this topic very interesting.  How would I find more information on
> the benefits of seedling trees?
>
> Intuitively, it makes sense to me -
>
> Melinda McCuan
>
>
>
> Today's Topics:
>
>     1. Re:  Fwd: Johny A. (Douglas Hinds)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Sun, 11 Nov 2012 14:46:48 -0600
> From: Douglas Hinds <cedecor@gmx.net>
> Subject: Re: [nafex] Fwd: Johny A.
> To: nafex mailing list at ibiblio <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
> Cc: Alan Haigh <alandhaigh@gmail.com>
> Message-ID: <50A00EB8.809@gmx.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>
> On 11/11/2012 10:29 AM, Alan Haigh wrote:
> > From: Alan Haigh<alandhaigh@gmail.com>
> > Date: Sun, Nov 11, 2012 at 9:59 AM
> > Subject: Johny A.
> > To:nafex-request@lists.ibiblio.org
> >
> > > > That isn't to take away from Johnny. He was an apple authority and
> > > > went
> > > around the country helping folks and propagated popular varieties by
> grafting.
> > Actually, according to Pollan's book, Johny thought grafting was
> > devil's work and that God wanted trees to grow just as they were from
> seed.
> God and Johnny aren't the only ones.  Count me in on that two.
>
> How important is it to me?  I left the USA due to the relative dearth of
> fruit from seedling trees there in 1974 and I still don't eat fruit from
> trees that _aren't_  on their own roots.  In fact, fruit from seedling trees
> is the principle staple food of my diet and at 70, I have not yet begun to
> go downhill.
>
> An article explaining the reasons why was published in the *1973 California
> Rare Fruit Growers Yearbook* (the year before I left).  Steve Diver asked
> for for a copy and I e-mailed it to him about 12 years ago. (If Steve is on
> nafex I'd appreciate being sent a copy, since I don't have it on hand at
> this time.  And if not, Lawrence - I assume you have his current contact
> data, and I hope you can do me the favor of sending this on to him).
>
> Grafting is unnecessary and creates more problems than it solves.
> Logically, those subscribing to organic, biological, alternative,
> sustainable and ecological (as well as permaculture and biodynamic)
> agriculture would recognize the importance of respecting and maintaining the
> integrity of the individual organism as a fundamental and unalterable
> principle, yet no movement (that I'm aware of) has taken up the cause and I
> think I (along with other sympathetic individuals and
> groups) need to do something about that.  (It's on the agenda we've
> established with CUCBA, our local Agricultural, Biological, Environmental
> and Animal Sciences Faculty) <www.cucba.udg.mx> and as time and funding
> permit, we will be moving ahead with it.
>
> That's all for now, but I can elaborate further if this post generates any
> interest to that effect.
>
> Douglas Hinds,
>
> Director General
> Centro para el Desarrollo Comunitario y Rural, A.C.
>
> Coordinator
> Alianza para la Responsibilidad Ecologica y Social en el Desarrollo (CUCBA,
> FEPRJ, CNC Jalisco, CeDeCoR A.C.)
>
> Chair
> Organic Pineapple Working Group
> International Society for Horticultural Science
>
> Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
>
>
>
> ------------------------------