The University of Saskatchewan has been breeding apples since the 1920's. In the last 25 years, we have grown 35,000 seedlings and selected the best for further use in our breeding program. In most recent years, enhanced cold hardiness, fruit quality and storage life have been combined in our selection process. Over 50 growers are currently testing 40 of our breeding selections.
Prairie Sun
Test # 70-20-01
Introduced in 1997
Brookland x Goodland
A COPF introduction, a multi-purpose apple cultivar, ripens September 1, slightly oblate yellowish cream with a pink blush, flesh is fine textured, crisp, juicy and moderately sweet and resistant to oxidation browning, good for fresh eating and makes excellent processed products, will size-up to 3" with professional care. Not recommended to gardeners. The storage life is comparable to Norland, short. The tree is semi-spur, semi-dwarf, very hardy and easily grown.
Prairie Sensation
Test # 18-10-32
Introduced in 2006
M359 x Brookland
Prairie Sensation was released by the U of Sk in 2008. Prairie Sensation fruit is large, between 7.3 and 8.6 cms in diameter (average of 10 fruit is 7.63 cms or 3 inches) and roundish to slightly oblate in shape. The cross section is round and the longitudinal section is unequal. The base colour of the skin is two shades of light green (colour chips150C and 154D; Royal Horticultural Society 1966) (62/2 and 63/3, Wilson Colour Ltd. 1941), which is 50% covered by two shades (colour chips 44C and 44D; Royal Horticultural Society 1966) of red in wash and stripes. There is scant bloom and the lenticels are numerous and inconspicuous. The skin is smooth and medium thick. The flesh colour is white and the texture is fine, firm, tender (breaking), crisp and juicy. The core size is medium to small and closed and has a median position in the fruit. The core lines are slightly clasping around slightly emarginate carpals. The seeds are the usual shape and colour being medium brown and acute. The flavour is a mild subacid with an intense aromatic component. The blossom end basin is wide. The calyx is persistent, convergent, re-curved and well developed over a closed cavity having a conical calyx tube and basal stamens. The stem is short and medium thick in an acute cavity. The fruit set as singles or pairs and requires little thinning.
The tree is slightly leggy with an open crown but sets up a moderate number of short spurs. It is not a tip-barer. It is hardy and continued to yield crops after the hard winters between 1996 and 1998.
Performance
Prairie Sensation has continued to score well in informal taste tests since 1993. Groups of growers, students, Horticulture Societies, faculty and staff consistently rated it as one of the best of our selections. In 2001 and 2002 it was submitted to sensory evaluation panels (10 to 14 people) made up of faculty, staff and students at the University of Saskatchewan. The evaluation protocol was similar to that used at the Pacific Agri-Food Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Summerland, British Columbia (Quamme et al. 1999). The panellists scored the fruit using a 1 to 8 Hedonic scale (1=worst, ‘disgusting’ to 8=best, ‘just right for me’) on appearance, texture (including firmness, crispness and juiciness) and flavour (including sweet/sour balance, astringency and aromatic flavours). The fruit was evaluated after 53 days in air storage at 0° Celsius. Prairie Sensation scored well compared to standard cultivars. (See figures 1 through 4) The same sensory data for each year is presented in two charts, the second showing more details than the first. The data clearly shows that Prairie Sensation is not inferior to the best standard cultivars that can be grown here with some reliability. This is important because these standards have shown various amounts of winter injury in past years and Prairie Sensation has been fully hardy.
The fruit also stores well, consistently receiving good sensory evaluation scores in January and February.
Autumn Delight
Test #4-10-43
Introduced in 2008
Haralson x Parkland
The fruit size is small to medium, 6 to 7 cms in diameter and the shape is slightly conical. The fruit stem is long. The fruit skin develops a waxy coating in storage. The colour is 80% washed with dark wine red over light greenish yellow. The flavour is sweet and good and the fruit is excellent for fresh eating and cut into salads. The cut fruit has good browning resistance and the core is of medium size and open. The texture is slightly spongy and exceptionally crisp and juicy. The flesh colour is creamy white often with red vascular tissue. The cooked flesh has medium firmness and the colour is yellow with pinkish flesh near the skin. The apple is very late, ripening around September 26th and the fruit hangs well on the tree. The fruit has excellent storability. The tree has excellent winter hardiness and is semi-dwarf in vigour. The tree is mildew resistant but is susceptible to fire blight.
Misty Rose
Test #4-11-48
Introduced in 2008
Brookland x (Pioneer #10 or Minn 1728)
The fruit is medium in size (6.5 to 8 cms in diameter) and has a long fruit stem. The shape is slightly conical and very smooth. The colour is usually a 90% red wash over light green but will vary from season to season depending on the weather in fall. The flavour is sweet and good and the fruit is very good eaten fresh. The texture is firm, crisp and juicy and the flesh colour is white. It ripens around September 4th and falls easily after that date. The fruit has good storability. The tree is vigorous, winter hardy and it tends to be the open, leggy, tip-bearing type giving it a graceful appearance. We have not seen fire blight and mildew on it. Fruit thinning can be done quickly with very little effort.
Festive Treat
Test #18-7-10
Introduced in 2010
Brookland x MacIntosh
Ripe September 24 but starts falling too early if not fruit thinned. Very fine crisp juicy texture. Flavor is rich and sweet with a very good acid balance. Shape is round and asymmetrical. Colour 90% splashed and striped red (little solid red) over light greenish yellow ground. Storage is good and remains very juicy after beginning to soften due to the very fine texture. Needs professional care to produce quality fruit and recommended to commercial growers only.
Rootstocks
Rootstocks are base for all commercially available apple trees. Apple cultivars or 'scions' are attached to the rootstock through a process called grafting. The picture below shows a young grafted apple tree. 
You'll notice a bulge at the union between the scion and the rootstock. This is known is the graft union. It's important to keep this union above ground, otherwise the scion may root. Grafting is done at the nursery, and trees are sold to the consumer ready to plant.
There are dozens of varieties of rootstocks.
Ottawa 3 dwarfing rootstock has been used in prairie zones 2b and 3a for at least 10 years. It isn't perfect but we know its weaknesses and can suggest appropriate cultural practices (Be careful not to fertilize unless soil tests clearly indicate a nutrient deficiency. Under some conditions plants will need protection for the first winter. Keep the bud unions within approximately 5 cms of the soil line). V3 has been tested in warmer areas of North America with very good results. It appears to be at least as winter hardy as Ottawa 3 in the field, making it a promising dwarfing rootstock for zone 2b on the prairies. V3 is not as hardy as Ott 3 as a potted plant.
The use of Ott 3 and V3 will allow tree densities of between 545 to 726 trees per acre (1347 to 1793 trees per hectare) depending on row spacing and will facilitate the most convenient cultural practices. This is based on 5 ft. (1.5 m) between trees and from 12 to 16 ft. (3.7 to 4.9 m) between rows.
Growers in zone 2a who don't want to take the risk on Ott 3 are advised to buy crabapple seedling rootstocks and plant at 12 by 16 ft. (3.7 by 4.9 m), which will be 227 trees per acre (560 trees per hectare).
Cooperators
This information is for growers who want to test the University's fruit selections on their own property in co-operation with the Plant Sciences Department, University of Saskatchewan.
Articles
- University of Saskatchewan Apple Introductions 2010
- Apples Named by PAPI 2010
- Ancestry of Apple Selections at the University of Saskatchewan
- History of Commercial Apple Production on the Prairies
- Descriptions of 3 Recommended Apple Cultivars: January 2010
- Edible Apples in Prairie Canada[~3mb] (Special thanks to The Friends of the Garden, University of Alberta Devonian Botanic Garden, for allowing us to post this.)