A row of New York 1 apples nears maturity. Cornell University  has had an apple breeding program for about 110 years, and it’s been quite successful. New York 1 and New York 2 are the 65th and 66th new varieties released by Cornell since breeding began, and the list includes such well-known names as Cortland, Empire, Jonagold, Macoun, and Liberty. Among other accomplishments, Cornell published the first apple genetic linkage map; identified and/or developed molecular markers for fruit color, scab resistance, and tree architecture; and began breeding varieties for fruit quality traits including vitamin C content, nonbrowning flesh, scab resistance, […]