Inheritance and selection of some fruit characters of apple. II. The relation between leaf and fruit pH as a basis for preselection

Abstract

The leaf pH of two year old apple seedlings was found to be sufficiently related to the fruit pH, measured when the seedlings were six to seven years old, to serve as a basis for pre-selection. Discarding all seedlings with an above average leaf pH (40% of the total) eliminated the majority (74%) of seedling with low-acid cum sweet fruits. The method was not effective for reducing the proportion of seedlings with high-acid cum sour fruits.