AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION /AUBURN UNIVERSITY R. DENNIS ROUSE, Director AUBURN, ALABAMA
CIRCULAR 240 MARCH 1978

Pro user:T

-~

"

A High
Quality

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Plum For the Commercial Market

AU-PRODUCER: A HIGH QUALITY PLUM FOR THE COMMERCIAL MARKET
J. D. NORTON
1

AU-Producer is a new plum variety that was released in 1977 by the Auburn University Agricultural Experiment Station. It was developed for growing in central Alabama, where sufficient chilling of 750 hours of temperature below 45°F occurs. This variety has proven its ability to produce high yields of high quality fruit in areas where certain fruit and disease problems occur. AU-Producer was selected from a cross between Bruce and Santa Rosa varieties. It has high resistance to bacterial canker (Pseudomonas syringae), bacterial fruit spot (Xanthomonas pruni), and bacterial leaf spot (xanthomonas pruni). A tolerance to black knot, Dibotryon morbosum, is also present in the seedling. Such resistance is particularly important because susceptibility of commercial varieties to these diseases has discouraged plum production. The new variety received resistance to bacterial and fungal diseases from the Bruce variety. Trees of AUProducer are vigorous and upright, with dark green foliage. VARIETY DESCRIPTION
FRUIT QUALITY. Characterized by dark red to purple skin and dark red flesh, fruit of AU-Producer are medium sized, usually measuring 1,% tol134 inches in diameter. The excellence of quality and appearance makes AU-Producer fruit well suited for home, roadside, and commercial markets. The fruit has excellent firmness for handling in harvesting, storage, packing, and shipping to chain stores and distant markets, table 1. Skin color development is excellent and compares favorably with Crimson, Purple, and Santa Rosa varieties. Maturity date is approximately the same as Ozark Premier, table 2. The plant is self-fruitful. 'Professor, Department of Horticulture.

TABLE 1. FRUIT CHARACTERISTICS OF PLUM VARIETIES

Variety

Vaieyse

Fruit set

Flesh olrcolor colorinches orange to red crimson red cream
dark red

SkinFd

diameter,

-Shape
51
5 5 5
31

SoneSoluble Flavr Frmnes solids, eStness Texture Fimnes Flavr freenesspercent
31

Bruce----------------51 5 Crimson --------------------5 Homeside
c. Methley

orange to red
crimson red orange to

14-2
112-14 214-21i 1-134

cling cling cling cling

31

9.4 16.3 18.8 18.5

----------------------------------L~j

light red S5
5
dark red to purple

5 5 5

5 4 3

5 5 5

Ozark Premier---------AU-Producer

-----------

cream
dark red cream red

red to purple
dark red

2-214
114-14

5
5

5
5

4
5

free
cling

5
5

15.7
16.5

S5
5 4

to purple
dark red 134-2
134-112

Purple-------------------Santa Rosa

5 5

5 5

5 5

-------------5=

to purple
dark red

semicling cling

4 5

14.8 16.7

to purple
excellent, 4
=

'Rating

index:

good,

3,=

V
=

fair, 2

=

poor, and 1

very poor.

TABLE

2.

BLOOM AND HARVEST DATES AND YIELD OF PLUM VARIETIES AT THREE LOCATIONS IN ALABAMA

Variety

Clanton Camp Hill Auburn Bloom Harvest Yield' Bloom Harvest Yield Bloom Harvest Yield date date date date date date 3 5 5 3 4 5 5 3

2 3 3-17 7-5 3-17 7-3 6-29 2 Bruc e ................... 3-20 3-20 7-20 5 3-19 7-18 5 7-14 Crim son ................ 3-22 7-12 4 3-18 3-10 7-10 7-5 5 Horneside .............. 3-20 3 3-20 3-20 6-16 3 6-14 3 3-22 6-10 Meth ley ....... 4 3-18 7-18 3-18 7-15 7-10 4 Ozar k Premier ...... 3-20 5 3-17 3-18 7-2 7-1 AU-I Producer ........ 3-20 6-27 5 5 3-22 7-23 3-23 7-22 7-20 5 Purp le ............ 3-24 4. 3-21 7-9 3 7-8 3-22 7-5 3 3-24 Santa~III~~~ ---VYV VYV Y VI 1V __I__ _~ index: 0 = 0, 1 = very low, 2 = low, 3 = fair, 4 = good, and 5 = excellent. 'Yield 'Trees short lived due to ring spot virus. 3Trees short lived due to black knot and bacterial canker. 4 Trees short lived due to bacterial canker.

SRosa

YIELD. The variety has been in trials as Bruce 13-18 at three locations in the Auburn University Agricultural Experiment Station System. Production has been high at all locations in central Alabama, tables 2 and 5. It has been a consistent bearer and produced larger crops than Bruce, Methley, Ozark Premier, and Santa Rosa. STORAGE. Fruit of AU-Producer plum stores as well as Crim-

son, Purple, and Santa Rosa varieties and better than Bruce, Methley, Homeside, and Ozark Premier varieties, table 3.
DISEASE RESISTANCE. AU-Producer compares favorably with varieties currently being grown in home, roadside, and commercial plantings. It is highly resistant to bacterial fruit spot, bacterial leaf spot, and bacterial canker. However, it is less resis-

TABLE 3. PERCENT MARKETABLE PLUM FRUIT AFTER STORAGE AT 350

F'

Variety 3 Bruce ___................ Crimson ................ Methley ........... Homeside ......... Ozark Premier ....... AU-Producer ......... Purple .... ........... Santa Rosa ............

Percent marketable after specified weeks of storage Pct. 20 100 95 90 90 100 100 100 6 Pct. 5 90 70 65 65 90 85 80 9 Pct. 0 65 20 15 15 65 55 45 12 Pct. 0 30 0 0 0 30 25 20 14 Pct. 0 15 0 0 0 15 8 5

'Fruit samples consisted of 100 mature, firm, fully colored fruit.

[4]

tant to black knot, caused by the fungal organism, Dibotryon morbosum, than Bruce, Crimson, and Purple, table 4.
AVAILABILITY OF TREES

Trees of AU-Producer should be available for planting in the winter of 1978-79. A limited amount of budwood may be secured from J. D. Norton, Department of Horticulture, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, or from C. C. Carlton, Superintendent, Chilton Area Horticulture Substation, Clanton, Alabama.

TABLE 4. DISEASE RESISTANCE OF PLUM VARITIES IN EXPERIMENTAL PLANTINGS AT AUBURN, CAMP HILL, AND CLANTON

Variety Bruce .......................... Crimson .................... Methley .................... Homeside ........... Ozark Premier ........ AU-Producer 2 .......... Purple ...................... Santa Rosa .............
'Disease

Bacterial spot 0 3 0 0 0 0 5

Bacterial leaf spot 0 0 5 0 1 0 0 5

Disease index' Bacterial Black knot canker 0 0 5 1 1 0 0 5 0 0 5 1 1 1 0 0

Brown rot 4 1 3 3 3 2 3 3

Average 0.8 .2 4.2 1.0 1.2 .6 .6 3.6

index: 0

=

0, 1 = 1-20, 2 = 21-40, 3 = 41-60, 4= 61-80, 5= 81-100 percent of fruit,

leaves and trees infected with bacterial canker, bacterial fruit spot, bacterial leaf spot, and black knot. 2 Three trees weie planted at Auburn and Camp Hill and 56 trees were planted at Clanton (six in replicated trials and 50 in a production demonstration planting).

TABLE 5.

YIELD OF FRUIT OF AU-PRODUCER, CHILTON AREA HORTICULTURE SUBSTATION, THORSBY, ALABAMA, 1976 AND 1977

Tree number 1976 Lb. ............................. 105.0 ............................. 107.0 109.6 ............................. ............................. 90.4 131.6 .............................. ............................. 103.0 60.6 ............................. ............................. 79.4 115.8 ............................. ............................. 90.6

Yield per tree 1977 Lb. 117.0 124.5 120.4 131.8 112.3 121.0 138.7 131.6 119.4 135.8
125.3

Average Lb. 111.0 115.8 115.0 111.1 122.0 112.0 99.7 105.5 117.6 113.2
112.3

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

AVERAGE ................ 99.3

'Four and 5-year-old trees in 1976 and 1977, respectively. [5]

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author gratefully acknowledges the essential assistance of H. M. Bryce, Main Station, and C. C. Carlton and K. C. Short, Chilton Area Horticulture Substation, in evaluation and propagation of the variety. Valuable assistance was rendered by E. L. Mayton (retired), W. A. Grif fey, H. E. Burgess, and T. C. Stama in trials at the Piedmont Substation.