Articles
BREEDING OF LATE FLOWERING WALNUT VARIETIES WHICH BEAR ON LATERAL SHOOTS
The success of selection work, so far, has been limited to our domestic varieties and populations, all belonging to the Carpathian race.
Within the French walnut race the trait of late flowering – combined with excellent fruit quality – is more developed than in our Carpathian walnut varieties.
The Manshurian race is the most frost hardy of the races tested.
Within this race the trait of bearing on lateral shoots occurs more frequently than in the domestic Hungar populations.
Some cultivars originating from the F1 populations of crosses between the French and the Manshurian races /breeder E.F. Serr, Davis, California/ show combinations of favourable traits which also have value for Hungarian walnut production /e.g. ‘Pedro’ and ‘Tehama’ cvs./.
Combining the favourable traits of the French x Manshurian F1 population by hybridizing with domestic varieties has produced at population with all the desirable traits from which desirable improved cultivars can be selected.
New combinations of traits include types which flower after the 10th of May, thus preventing late spring frost damage.
Such types also bear in our climate on lateral shoots with great frequency and have high quality fruit.
The ripening time of the fruit and shoots is not later than that of domestic varieties.