April, 1997
By Frank Kappel and Richard MacDonald
Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre
One of the longest established sweet cherry breeding programs
in the world is alive and well in Summerland, British Columbia. It continues
to have a solid, world-wide reputation of developing large, firm sweet cherry
varieties covering a range of maturities. Growers and nurseries from around
the world seek out the advanced selections and varieties produced at Summerland
for testing and evaluation under their local conditons. The development
of high quality sweet cherry selections and varieties for years to come
is the purpose of the program.
History of the breeding program
The research station at Summerland has had an ongoing sweet cherry breeding program since 1936 and the first variety released from the program was Van in 1944. It is still a very important variety in British Columbia and also has found a significant place in a number of sweet cherry industries around the world.
To date, the breeding program has released 22 varieties.
They include the first self-fertile sweet cherry with acceptable fruit quality,
Stella, which was introduced in 1968. This has revolutionized the way new
cherry orchards can be planted. There is no longer a need to include a pollinizer
variety when using self-fertile cherries making the management of orchards
much simpler and also self-fertile cherries are ensured of having a consistent
level of cropping each year. Self-fertility is still an important selection
trait. The introduction of Summit in 1973 provided a cherry of exceptional
fruit size and at the time, set the standard for fruit size that any new
variety must now meet or surpass. Recent introductions, Lapins and Sweetheart,
have extended the marketing season for cherries. Lapins is now considered
the standard of excellence for our industry in British Columbia because
of its consistent production of high quality, large, firm fruit.
Breeding objectives
There are three broad objectives directing the breeding program. These are:
a) diversify the 'product,' this will allow growers to take advantage of marketing niches;
b) environmental adaptation to insure consistent production of high quality fruit; and
c) reduce the cost of production for growers.
Genetic improvements in the following primary and secondary traits will insure that the three broad objectives will be met. Primary traits include: early onset of bearing; self-fertility; extended ripening season (early and late); improvements in fruit size and quality; increased flesh firmness; high yields; and tolerance to rain-induced cracking. Secondary traits that we are interested in include: resistance to major diseases; winter hardiness; resistance to or avoidance of spring frosts; and a compact tree growth.
The breeding program is a team effort involving a number
of scientists and support staff and this insures the ongoing success of
the program. Presently, there are over 1,000 seedlings in the greenhouse
waiting to be planted in the nursery this spring. The intention of the program
is to produce over 1,500 seedlings each year. In 1995, 55 crosses were made,
in 1996 over 80 crosses were made and this trend will continue. During the
short sweet cherry season over 300 samples are evaluated in our breeding
labs. An active research program in cold hardiness at the station allows
for the screening of advanced selections for winter hardiness. This was
begun this past winter and will continue. Sensory evaluation of the selections,
directed by a sensory scientist, has been an important component of the
program and will be expanded this coming season. A post-harvest physiologist
will begin to evaluate the post-harvest characteristics of the selections.
New Summerland varieties
Santina (13S-5-22). Santina is an early, black cherry with better than average fruit size (9.5g average fruit weight), that matures about eight days before Van. (Depending on the shape of the sweet cherry, an 8.5 gram to 9 gram sweet cherry will average one inch in diameter). It is moderately firm, and the skin has a highly attractive, bright lustre. This cherry is oval shaped with a medium long stem. The flavor is good and it is moderately sweet. The tree is self-fertile, but has never overset. Fruit size can be small if the fruit are picked too early, when the skin color is red. It is considered to be moderately tolerant to splitting but appears to be prone to nose splitting when it does split.
Celeste (13S-24-28). Celeste is an early maturing, self-fertile selection that ripens about five to seven days before Van. It has been one of the better early maturing varieties over a number of years. The stems are short and the fruit is Van-like but not quite as blocky. The fruit is dark fleshed, firm, and the size is usually much better than other early varieties, considered moderately large (10.7 gram average fruit weight). The flavor of Celeste is very good and moderately sweet. This cherry would be a suitable selection to try in a high density trial where early maturity combined with compact growth, large size, good flavor, and split tolerance is required. Celeste has had a good tolerance to splitting. Two recent concerns though are its lack of storage life and low cropping potential using conventional pruning and rootstocks.
Cristalina (2C-61-22). Cristalina is a non-self-fertile cherry that has performed well for more than 20 years in evaluations at the station. The fruit is dark red and considered extremely attractive. The fruit of Cristalina is Bing like, being heart shaped and slightly compressed. It is generally ripe five days before Van. The size has consistently been good in the moderately large category (10.6 gram average fruit weight). The flesh is moderately firm and nearly as dark as the skin and moderately sweet. The tree is very productive, and has very good, wide spreading branches. An interesting attribute of this variety is that it can be picked stemless very early with no damage to the skin, i.e. a minimum of stem pulls, which is of interest to those exploring the stemless fresh market. It is tolerant to splitting.
Samba (13S-36-18). Samba is a spurry tree with an upright growth habit that is self-fertile and produces bright, very attractive, dark red fruit that mature about two days after Van. The fruit is large (11.4 gram average fruit weight), firm and moderately sweet with a good flavor. The fruit has a good tolerance to splitting. Under our conditions it may not be as precocious, on F12/1 rootstock, as we would desire.
Sandra Rose (13S-10-40). Sandra Rose is a cherry that has been evaluated for many years and although it has never ranked at the very top in any one year, it has consistently ranked near the best. In the past few years, when taste panels have been used to evaluate varieties, it has been ranked the best in flavor. Sandra Rose is Van-type in appearence but not quite so blocky. The fruit is dark red, round and slightly compressed. It matures about three days after Van. The stems are short and thick. The flavor of this cherry is sweet and good, the texture is usually good, in the moderately firm category, but in some years it may be considered slightly soft under our conditions. The skin is very bright and shiny, a pack is very attractive and tends to have very uniform color and size (11.6 gram average fruit weight). The tree consistently bears very good crops and is self-fertile and appears to have a good tolerance to splitting.
Sonata (13N-6-59). Sonata is a new, self-fertile selection that has late mid-season maturity about seven days after Van. The fruit is very large (12.7 gram average fruit weight), black, and moderately sweet. The texture of Sonata is very good, very firm and fine grained. The stems are long and thick. The skin has a very brilliant lustre resulting in a very attractive pack. It appears to be moderately susceptible to splitting. The tree bears very good crops annually.
13N-7-39. This selection is a round, very large (12.2 gram average fruit weight) blushed (Rainier-type) cherry that is late mid-season in maturity about seven days after Van. The outstanding characteristic of 13N-7-39 is its very firm texture. It is highly blushed, but the appearance of the skin is slightly mottled. The blush is darker than most blushed cherries. The flavor of this cherry is very sweet. It appears to be tolerant to splitting. Crop potential may not be acceptable using traditional rootstocks and training systems.
13N-7-70. 13N-7-70 is another blushed, large, very firm, heart shaped, cherry (11.5 gram average fruit weight) with short stems. It matures about 15 days after Van. It has a mild flavor, considered moderately sweet, however, when spot picked for fully blushed fruit the quality is considered very good. The tree is self-fertile and an excellent cropper. It might have a tendency to overcrop. It appears to be tolerant to splitting.
13S-43-48. This selection is a very attractive, large cherry (11.6 gram average fruit weight) maturing late, sometime between Lapins and Sweetheart. It is very firm, sweet with a good tolerance to splitting.
Sylvia. Sylvia is a selection that was named in 1988 and is a variety that should be carefully evaluated for it may have a place in the industry. It is a Lambert/Stella type of fruit that ripens about seven days after Van. It is not self-fertile and the compatibility group has not been established. Sylvia is dark red, firm, has good flavor, moderately sweet, and moderately large (10.6 gram average fruit weight). Both size and color are uniform within a pack. Stems are very thick and hold up well in cold storage. It is considered to be tolerant to splitting. In the years when splitting has occurred, nose splitting was prevalent. The tree is a semi-compact type, and annually bears moderate to heavy crops. In preliminary small scale storage tests it appears to have excellent storage capabilities. Testers from Europe have reported that this selection is very tolerant to sun scalding. Sylvia has a very dense protective canopy that provides excellent protection for the fruit. This dense foliage may also offer protection from rain. There are very successful high density plantings of Sylvia in Europe. Sylvia is one of our last cherries to bloom in the spring.
As has been pointed out, Summerland has had an ongoing
sweet cherry breeding program and will continue to have an active breeding
program for some time to come. New selections are made every year and as
they are evaluated and prove their merit, they will be released through
the Okanagan Plant Improvement Co.(PICO) for wider scale evaluation. Individual
growers or nurseries wishing to test our selections are urged to contact
PICO by phone at (250) 494-5157 or fax (250) 494-7472 to negotiate testing
arrangements.
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