North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Claude Jolicoeur <cjoli@gmc.ulaval.ca>]

Hello Devin,
I guess my own experience is not quite like 
yours. True, crabs that have a lot of Malus 
baccata (the Siberian crab) are most often scab 
resistant. But I have seen crabs that were quite severely affected by scab.
As of insects, I can tell you that I have a great 
crab here that is the most severely affected 
variety in my orchard by the European Sawfly. It 
does also get some maggot, although not as much as some other varieties.
So it is pretty hard to say for sure that 
planting crabs will insure you clean fruit...
Claude

where there is still a good 3 feet of snow on the ground!


Le 17:39 2014.04.06, vous avez écrit:
> A picture and caption I noticed at the recent 
> Maine Tree Crop Alliance Scionwood
> Swap reminded me of an idea/question that has long been brewing in my
> mind about the seeming resistance of crab apples to all manner of bugs
> and insects. Perhaps its not surprising that 
> bugs in particular would go for the big choice 
> fruits given the chance. Still, it seems that there
> is some mystery to be uncovered here. It just doesn't seem that crab
> apple trees typically suffer from the onslaught 
> of plague and pestilence here in the northeast. 
> Maybe the fruits are just so small and numerous
> that the curculio riddled drops aren't 
> noticeable? Still doesn't explain the blemish 
> free fruit festooning every branch. I suppose 
> high levels of tannins could be a factor. Still, 
> it seems that some of the better eating crabs 
> are quite often free of blemishes somehow. 
> Whatever the explanation, are similar
> mysterious forces at work when it comes to summer apples. It seems that
> Transparent apples, for one, seem to suffer little if any damage. Has
> anyone else noticed this, and if so, how do you explain it? At the swap
> this year, I focused largely on getting some 
> choice crab varieties in the hopes that these 
> might prove quite a bit easier to grow. Any thoughts?.
> -Devin Smith
> Witness Oak Polycultures
> Rockingham, VT
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