The World of Apples

Apple varieties, United States

Liberty

Bred at Geneva, New York, from a 1955 cross and named in 1978 to denote its freedom from disease

History

Liberty was bred at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, whose departments of pomology and of plant pathology had worked together on disease-resistant apples since 1949; it was the first variety named from that work1. It came from a cross of Macoun with Purdue 54-12 made in 1955, the pollen supplied by Ralph Shay of Purdue University, and its resistance comes from Malus floribunda1. Purdue 54-12 was a seedling of Wealthy and the selection F2 26829-2-2, whose grandparents were Rome Beauty and M. floribunda 8214.

Of 261 seeds from the cross, 38 seedlings proved resistant to scab and were planted out. One of them, NY 55140-19, first fruited in 1961, was chosen for further trial in 1964 and entered the catalogue of the New York State Fruit Testing Cooperative Association in 19741. It was named and introduced in 19781,2,3. Bernadine Aldwinckle of the station suggested the name, to signify freedom from disease; it also revived the custom of naming Geneva’s apples after places in New York1.

By 1992 Liberty and Prima were, in the view of the breeders of the Purdue, Rutgers and Illinois (PRI) programme, the most widely planted scab-resistant apples in the United States5.

The fruit

The breeders described a fruit about 70–76 mm across, smaller on heavily cropping trees, oblate to oblate-conic, its yellowish skin striped deep dark red over nine-tenths of the surface and marked with many small light dots1. The flesh is crisp and juicy, with a subacid flavour that both sources rate good1,2.

At Geneva it ripens about 5 October on average, some ten days after McIntosh1, and at Brogdale in Kent it is picked in early October2. The USDA’s record says that it keeps until February, its flavour growing stronger in store3.

Growing

In the breeders’ unsprayed plantings Liberty stayed free of scab for 22 years; it showed very high resistance to cedar apple rust, high resistance to fire blight and less mildew than McIntosh1. Their experience was that it could be grown without fungicide sprays, though insects still had to be controlled1, and in 1992 the PRI breeders counted it among the few apples highly resistant to scab, fire blight, powdery mildew and cedar-apple rust alike5.

The tree is vigorous, round and spreading, and crops every year1. Besides its many spurs, which stay fruitful for several years, it sets blossom buds on the current season’s shoots1. It needs thinning, and the USDA’s record gives it a chilling requirement of 800 hours3. By 1978 no winter injury had been seen, though no severe winter had yet tested it, and with McIntosh and Wealthy among its forebears the breeders expected it to be quite cold-hardy1. Liberty is diploid6.

Uses

The breeders regarded it as mainly a dessert apple and had not yet tested it for processing1; the USDA’s record calls it good for eating fresh and for cooking3.

Where the sources disagree

  • Year of release. The station’s bulletin naming Liberty is dated August 1978, and the National Fruit Collection and the USDA give 19781,2,3; the PRI breeders’ 1992 table of scab-resistant releases gives 19795.
  • Flesh. Yellowish and fine in the breeders’ description1; white and slightly coarse at the National Fruit Collection2.
  • Dates in the USDA’s record. The USDA’s 1996 inventory entry opens “In existence 1895; described 1867”, dates that conflict with the 1955 cross recorded by the breeders3,1.

Family tree

Parents, grandparents and great-grandparents, as the entries in the atlas record them.

  • Liberty United States, 1955
    • Seed parent Macoun United States, 1909
    • Pollen parent Purdue 54-12
Liberty
Where Liberty came from.

Sources

  1. LIBERTY, a new disease resistant apple, Robert G. Lamb, Herb S. Aldwinckle, Roger D. Way and David E. Terry, New York's Food and Life Sciences Bulletin No. 73, New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, Geneva (Cornell eCommons), 1978-08. Supports: disease-resistance breeding a cooperative project of the station's Department of Pomology and Viticulture and Department of Plant Pathology since 1949, Liberty "the first variety to be named from this project"; the cross Macoun × Purdue 54-12 made in 1955, the pollen supplied by Ralph Shay of Purdue University, the resistance coming from Malus floribunda; 261 seeds screened for scab and 38 resistant seedlings planted; NY 55140-19 first fruiting in 1961, selected for further trial in 1964 and in the New York State Fruit Testing Cooperative Association catalogue in 1974; the name suggested by Bernadine Aldwinckle of the station's entomology and plant pathology departments "to denote freedom from disease", reviving the use of New York place names for Geneva apples; free of scab lesions in unsprayed field plantings for 22 years, very high resistance to cedar apple rust, high resistance to fire blight, less mildew than McIntosh; grown without fungicidal sprays but still needing insect control; a vigorous, round, spreading, annually productive tree, setting blossom buds on the current year's shoots and on many spurs that stay fruitful for several years; no severe winter during the trials and no winter or blossom frost injury seen, and expected to be "quite cold hardy" with McIntosh and Wealthy in its parentage; fruit deep dark red over 90 per cent of a yellowish ground, the red striped rather than blushed, oblate to oblate-conic, 2¾–3 inches, smaller on heavily cropping trees, with numerous small light dots; flesh yellowish, juicy, crisp, fine; flavour subacid and good; ripe about 5 October at Geneva, about 10 days after McIntosh; primarily a dessert apple, not yet tested for processing.
  2. Liberty (accession 1984-076), National Fruit Collection, Brogdale, Kent (Defra). Supports: raised at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, Geneva, and introduced in 1978; parentage "Macoun x Purdue 54-12"; crisp, juicy, slightly coarse-textured flesh with a good flavour; resistant to scab, cedar apple rust, fire blight and powdery mildew; red over whitish yellow, striped or solid flush; white flesh; picking in early October at Brogdale.
  3. Plant Inventory No. 204, Part I (Plant Materials Introduced January 1 to June 30, 1995), p. 343: PI 588943, Liberty, R. A. Norris (ed.), USDA Agricultural Research Service, 1996-08. Supports: "Macoun x Purdue 54-12 Intro: 1978", preceded by "In existence 1895; described 1867"; skin yellow flushed and striped red; flesh firm, fine, yellowish; good for eating fresh and for cooking; "stores until Feb with flavor intensified"; tree hardy, vigorous, productive, annual, requiring thinning; resistant to scab, fire blight, mildew and cedar apple rust; ripens early October; "Requires 800 hours of chilling".
  4. Plant Inventory No. 204, Part II (Plant Materials Introduced July 1 to December 31, 1995), p. 97: PI 589777, PRI 1918-1, R. A. Norris (ed.), USDA Agricultural Research Service, 1996-08. Supports: the pedigree of the Purdue selection 54-12 given as Wealthy x "F2" 26829-2-2, the latter from two seedlings (9433-2-2 and 9433-2-8) of Rome Beauty x M. floribunda 821.
  5. Breeding Apples for Scab Resistance: 1945–1990, J. A. Crosby, J. Janick, P. C. Pecknold, S. S. Korban, P. A. O'Connor, S. M. Ries, J. Goffreda and A. Voordeckers, Fruit Varieties Journal 46(3): 145–166, American Pomological Society, 1992-07. Supports: the cooperative programme of Purdue University, Rutgers University and the University of Illinois "known by the acronym PRI" (p. 146); "'Liberty' and 'Prima' are at present the most widely planted scab-resistant cultivars in the U.S." (p. 161); Liberty among the few selections with high resistance to all four major diseases, scab, fire blight, powdery mildew and cedar-apple rust (pp. 161–162); Table 2 (p. 164): Liberty from the New York Agricultural Experiment Station, Geneva, year of release 1979, pedigree "PRI 54-12 x 'Macoun'".
  6. Ploidy determination, Malus (study MALUS.PLOIDYDETERMINATION.2008), USDA Agricultural Research Service, GRIN-Global, 2008. Supports: Liberty (PI 588943) diploid (2x).

All 235 varieties from United States