| By Bill Adamsen President, CT Chapter TACF |
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Year Over Year Growth Several of our orchards have limited space for additional planting – they are essentially full – with all the trees we expect to plant for the back-cross program. The trees in these orchards have been in place for several years and have put on considerable size since planting, and we wondered exactly how much size had increased since last year's measurements. Following this year's measurements, we performed simple size (height) distribution analysis of the trees for each year for each orchard. By performing that analysis across the entire orchard we could easily compare last year's tree size overall to this years. The results are shown in Graph 1. We also track performance for each orchard through comparative size distribution analysis. Some years see fantastic conditions for growth, and of course there are other variables as well. Some lines get planted in better parts of the orchard for growth, some years the trees get better care at a time they need it most. Each graph represents the back-cross trees grown at one orchard. The axis have been equalized to ease comparison. A binomial formula tells us growing a minimum of seventy-three trees should give us a 99% probability that we will have four progeny with the genes for resistance, in a three gene model for inheritance. The additional trees give us the opportunity to select for desirable ecological traits. Based on the tree size in several orchards we are very close to the point when we can inoculate.
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Graph 1. CT Backcross by Year Graph 2. Woodbridge
Graph 3. Salem
Graph 4. NCLT Swann
Graph 5. Guilford
Graph 6. Great Mountain Forest
Graph 7. Litchfield Hills Audubon Society
Graph 8. City of Middletown Higby |
