Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/450509
16 FEBRUARY 1, 2015 Good Fruit Grower www.goodfruit.com Bleyhl Farm Service ad * 1st Feb 2015 Diamond stakes are available with standard or alternating notch patterns, uncoated or galvanized 13 & 14 ga. Re-designed with added turns for extra strength! Diamond Back Stakes Bleyhl Farm Service Inc. 940 E. Wine Country Rd, Grandview, WA 98930 * (800) 645-4416 Available in 7', 8' & 9' lengths, uncoated or galvanized ask about hardware-less cross arm specifications Standard Rolled Edge Vertical Line Post We Want A Stake In Your Business Premier Dealer For AmeriTrellis Vineyard & Orchard Stakes In WA & OR Farm Direct Delivery & Competitve Bid Pricing Visit Us @ WAWGG Feb. 11-13, Kennewick Toyota Center to know one from another. They just want to know if it suits their taste. "You don't need to grow cider variet- ies," said Wanda Heuser Gale from International Plant Management in Lawrence, Michigan. Mike Beck, from Uncle John's Cider Mill in St. Johns, Michigan, said some of the varieties already grown produce good cider, too. Gale quoted Bill Pitts, the nursery manager from Wafler Nursery in Wolcott, New York, who said: "There's nothing good about any of these varieties." He was talking about how hard they are to grow, both in the nursery and in orchards. The original hard cider tradition in America—cider was once more readily drunk than water—was built on apples of no-name variety grown from seeds. Prohibition had a greater impact on hard cider than on distilled liquors or beer, but cider is just now making a comeback. In the future, certain cider varieties will emerge—just as certain wine grape cultivars have emerged over the centuries. But, today, nobody knows which will become the Pinot Grigio or Cabernet Sauvignon of cider apples. "Do your thing. It will sort out," said Nancie Oxley, from St. Julian Winery in Paw Paw, Michigan, a large win- ery that has added hard apple cider to its line. "Nobody is putting us in a shoe box. There are plenty of different styles of cider that can be made." Demand for trees Both Pitts and Gale explained why it will take so long to get cider varieties into orchards. "There is a shortage of budwood and of rootstocks to grow them on," Pitts said. Wafler Nursery has decided to work with small growers and will custom bud to order, but, he said, there's a waiting list of 30,000 to 40,000 trees now. "We can't afford to bud trees on speculation, not for cider varieties," he said. Gale noted that demand for apple trees now is unprecedented. "We're in the midst of an huge planting cycle," she said. "Nurseries don't need to cultivate the cider apple business. Waflers seem to have done the best job of trying to figure it out." But Pitts said it would help if somebody would come up with a top ten list of varieties to plant. Gale noted that it takes three full growing seasons from root to tree, which can then be shipped in the spring of its fourth year. Then, it will take three more years for fruit. Cider varieties, she said, are not something most nurseries want to contend with. Other items from the Great Lakes discussion: —There are few reliable budwood sources. Budwood is often sourced from private orchards and old trees and may be infected with viruses. —Trees are not true to name. —Favorites change year to year. —They are difficult to grow. Many don't graft well in the nurseries, and nobody knows what rootstock/ scion combinations work best to get the proper vigor or whether trees will be freestanding or need trellises, etc. • SOME HARD CIDER TREES AVAILABLE G rowers seeking to plant hard cider apple trees can find some varieties at Wafler Nursery in Wolcott, New York. Nursery manager Bill Pitts, who spoke at a hard cider educational session during the Great Lakes Fruit, Vegetable, and Farm Market Expo, passed out a sheet listing 20 varieties that are in stock at the nursery. They are: Arkansas Black, Bedan Des Parts, Binet Rouge, Bramley's Seedling, Brown Snout, Chisel Jersey, Dabinette, Ellis Bitter, Fillbarrel, Harry Masters, Kingston Black, Lady, Major, Michelin, Porters Perfection, Somerset Redstreak, Stembridge Jersey, Tremletts Bitter, Wickson, and Yarlington Mills. Most of the varieties are budded on Malling 7 and M.111 rootstocks, so they are freestanding and relatively large trees, but some are available on Budagovsky 9 or M.9/337, and a few are on the Geneva rootstocks G.11 and G.41. Dabinette is available on six different rootstocks. —R. Lehnert