Fruit and Vegetable Crops

Although peach and apple orchards had been planted and maintained by the best methods of husbandry since the Station was started, investigational work in horticulture was not started until 1923. Attractive ornamentals were always a part of the farm scene. The first serious testing with apples consisted of a program of top grafting on old trees. At the same time an extensive variety testing program with vegetables was started for sweet corn, radishes, lettuce, peas, beans, carrots, beets, celery, onions, and parsnips. The first reports do not list tomatoes, but they were soon added to the tests and in 1925, 24 varieties were tested and 40 varieties of sweet corn. Variety tests were also carried out that year with potatoes and peanuts. In 1927 fertilizer tests with potatoes were started. The variety testing program soon became narrowed down to a more concentrated examination of a smaller number of commercially important vegetables, mainly tomatoes, asparagus, sweet corn, and lima beans. Fruit investigation included studies of strawberries, raspberries, grapes, and muskmelon, although agriculturally the melon is classed as a vegetable. A limited amount of work was done on the study of cultural practices and fertilizer requirements of some of the vegetable crops, but the whole horticultural program continued on a rather modest scale in comparison with research on other crops until the arrival of Mr. Brian Harrison in 1937.

At this time peach growing in southwestern Ontario was becoming more important; one reason was that the climate gave a slight advantage over that of the Niagara District in terms of earlier maturity. Mr. Harrison immediately launched into an extensive peach variety testing program and by 1946 there were 80 varieties in the Station orchards. The market demand was for an attractive yellow-fleshed freestone peach that could be shipped to distant markets and sold locally on roadside stands or to the canning factories. The best varieties were also to be early ripening and able to withstand severe frost and cold. This investigation marked the beginning of a study that eventually became one of the main research programs of the Station and exerted a major influence on the peach industry not only in Essex County, but in other parts of Canada and the United States. It was interrupted for a time during the Second World War, but was resumed and broadened to include a study of bacterial spot disease, which was causing some concern in the area. Fortunately an adequate measure of varietal resistance was eventually encountered. It came to be recognized after some time that the peach rootstocks currently in use were not providing proper protection from damage due to low temperature, root aphids, nematodes, and root toxins. A search was started for new and better rootstocks and many sources were tested, including apricot, which was not considered at that time to be a commercially profitable fruit by itself. Another interesting study was a comparison of chemical and mechanical methods of peach thinning. Each annual report contained a wealth of observational data on all facets of the growing of peaches.

In the summer of 1951 an early-maturing mutation of the Redhaven peach was located by one of the local fruit growers, Mr. Garnet Bruner, in his own orchard. The mutating branch was brought to the attention of Mr. George Whaley of Olinda who suggested that it be shown to Mr. Harrison for guidance as to its possible use. This was done in 1954. An examination of the numerous fruits on the branch indicated that it was of the sectorial chimera type with ideal on-type fruit on shoots emerging from a narrow strip on the branch and off-type fruits on shoots at the perimeter. A wide variation in fruit appearance was evident and was caused by maturity differences and shape abnormalities. Buds were taken from shoots associated with on-type fruits differing from the parent Redhaven only in maturity and a number of trees were budded at the Station and elsewhere. The resulting fruits were checked and selected for further budding. In 1957 two separate times of ripening were evident representing two possible strains. The name Garnet was proposed for one that ripened 10 days in advance of Redhaven. This strain was propagated in quantity and released for distribution in 1958, but the name was changed to Garnet Beauty because prior use of the name Garnet had been discovered. This variety proved to be very useful and popular and is still being grown in some areas. Although it did not originate as the result of a breeding program at the Station, it was developed to the point of usefulness by Mr. Harrison with the assistance of Mr. Alvin Sellick and became the first peach variety to originate through the Station efforts.

In 1951 Dr. Koch began a collaborative study of the peach replant disorder, which had been recognized for many years and was beginning to cause widespread concern in Essex County. For several years it occupied a major place in the peach program at the Station.

Although the peach investigations comprised the largest part of the fruit research program, work was continued with grapes until 1939 and with raspberries for a considerably longer period. Apple orchards were maintained and several studies of lesser importance were conducted including a study of a form of winter damage known as southwest injury or sunscald.

The vegetable research program was taken over by Mr. L. F. Ounsworth in 1942. He started a program of tomato breeding, which was interrupted for 4 years by war service but continued with great vigor later. The commonly grown early tomato was a variety named Bounty, which had many fine characteristics. The object of the breeding program was to produce disease-resistant varieties or hybrids more suitable to the district. This program resulted in the production of a superior tomato, which was named Harrow and released in 1951. It was a consistently high yielding early tomato that was conspicuously free from cracking, a disorder that reduced the quality of many common varieties. Les Ounsworth pursued this tomato breeding program along with variety testing as long as he remained. This was an extremely varied study because different types and varieties are required for the different uses. Processing tomatoes are different from the early market or the late market tomatoes and all of these are quite distinct from greenhouse tomatoes. Numerous characteristics of this interesting fruit were examined including earliness, size, firmness, freedom from cracking, vitamin C content, color, and resistance to diseases such as verticillium wilt, fusarium wilt, mosaic virus, and bacterial canker.

Insect control, nutrition, and nematode damage were also studied. An inbred selection derived from hybridization was named Harbon and released in 1966. It was an excellent tomato in many respects, but it could not compete in yield with several other commonly used varieties when grown on a clay soil. The tomato breeding program was discontinued when Les Ounsworth left the Station in 1969 and has not been resumed. In the meantime some of the larger processing companies have assumed a share of the responsibility for producing new varieties of processing tomatoes.

Mr. Ounsworth was also involved in a melon breeding program, which was started in 1942 with the aim of introducing resistance to wilt and increasing earliness. This was accomplished by 1954 with the introduction and naming of the Harper hybrid. This hybrid was resistant to fusarium wilt, produced a good yield of relatively early fruit, was a good shipper, and had high quality with excellent flavor. However, it was subject to, powdery mildew. It quickly became very popular and has remained a favorite with growers ever since, particularly on account of its ability to withstand damage during handling and shipping. Many more selections were made over the next 15 years of breeding, but none could equal the Harper hybrid. Fusarium wilt continued to be one of the most serious problems facing melon growers in Essex County. An intensive study of the etiology of the melon wilt disease and a search for practical measures to control it was carried on for many years in a series of meticulous researches by Dr. Ralph Wensley.

With the formation of the Research Branch in 1959, the horticultural research program began to take on a new appearance. Dr. G. M. Weaver replaced Mr. Harrison as head of the horticulture section. He undertook a peach breeding program to incorporate resistance to peach canker and to bacterial leaf spot into commercially acceptable varieties and to increase the level of winterhardiness. A search was made for desirable breeding parents and the program soon gathered momentum. Two plastic greenhouses were erected for the production of seedlings and 15,000 of these were set out annually in nurseries for three successive years. The amount of land devoted to peach orchards was greatly increased and the research developed many new facets. Variety and thinning trials were carried out. A survey of peach canker in the orchards of the district was made. Insect problems were under continuous study. The peach replant problem continued to receive attention. 1963 was a bad year for peaches in Essex County. Winter temperatures as low as -17°F resulted in severe damage to many orchards. This spurred on the search for new winterhardy varieties with both bud hardiness and root hardiness. Methods for identifying and testing this characteristic were developed. Electrical resistance of woody stem tissue seemed to provide a useful index. Artificial freezing at controlled temperatures with subsequent inspection for mortality rates was carried out also and this became a standard technique. At a later date exotherm analysis was also used along with this procedure.

In conjunction with the breeding program an intensive study of several insect and disease problems was conducted. The peach tree borer, the lesser peach tree borer, and the oriental fruit moth were the three leading orchard pests that received much attention from Mr. Boyce and Dr. Foott. The life histories and habits of these insects were studied and many methods of control were tested. Peach canker, also called perennial canker, was intensively studied and some attention was given to crown gall. Many of the pest control studies included annual surveys of the commercial orchards in the surrounding district.