The East

Peach breeding under J. S. Bailey and A. P. French at the Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment Station has been largely a study of the inheritance of characters, such as types of flowers, glands, and flesh, rather than to develop new varieties. Recently, however, a few seedlings were selected from a selfed Oriole group for further testing.

Some of the main aims of the work at the New Jersey Agricultural ' Experiment Station are to study the inheritance of characteristics, develop superior canning and freezing varieties, develop a succession of early commercial varieties, obtain varieties with fruit of low acid and tannin content, and get stronger varieties for rootstock purposes. A special effort is also being made to develop better nectarines. During the war the maintenance of the large collection of species and varieties was of primary concern. During this period selection and breeding were also continued On a limited scale, and several new selections are now ready for more extensive trials. Approximately 35 peach varieties have been developed there since the breeding work started in 1914. The Laterose, a promising white freestone ripening just after Elberta, was named in 1945. Two early yellow-fleshed varieties ripening before Golden Jubilee, the Earlyeast and the Jerseyland, and a yellow freestone midseason one, the Redcrest, were named and released for propagation in 1946. M. A. Blake directs the work at the New Jersey station.

Richard Wellington, G. D. Oberle, and John Einset conduct the peach breeding at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station. The main purpose is to obtain commercial varieties that will be relatively resistant to low winter temperatures, with fruit of high quality and firm flesh. In a latitude like that of New York, winter hardiness of flower buds is extremely important. Another objective is to obtain nonoxidizing or nondarkening varieties for freezing. Efforts to develop superior nectarines are also being made.

The main objective in the breeding work at the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station is to obtain a variety similar to Elberta; plus greater hardiness, larger fruit, and higher quality; and high-quality, yellow-fleshed, early-season varieties. Another ideal is a larger fruited, yellow-fleshed nectarine. W. S. Flory, Jr., and R. C. Moore use selected seedlings as well as named varieties as parents to obtain their objectives in the offspring. Several outstanding selections are being backcrossed or crossed with each other, where this appears feasible from the standpoint of character recombinations. Along with the breeding work, studies are made of genetic characters, determination of "marker" character, and cytological problems in breeding.