Jonagold

Origin. Jonagold originated from the cross, Golden Delicious x Jonathan, made in 1943. The breeding record number was 43013. Fifty-two seedlings of the cross were planted in a first-test orchard in November 1946. The original tree first fruited in 1953. At that time, it was described by L.G. Klein, former apple breeder in the Department of Pomology. It was selected for further propagation and was assigned the temporary selection number, N.Y. 43013-1. It was the only selection ever made from the entire progeny of this cross. In 1954, it was budded in the nursery onto several EM VII and seedling rootstocks. These were planted into a second-test orchard in 1956, and their fruiting performance was carefully observed for the 10-year period, 1959 through 1968, before it was named. It was introduced as a new cultivar in 1968 (Table 2).

Jonagold was named for its parents. "Jon" refers to its parent, Jonathan, and "gold", to Golden Delicious. Its introductory description was published as a research circular (225).

Tree. Jonagold tree characteristics are summarized in Table 5. Trees are rather large, rather vigorous, somewhat above medium in size, similar to Golden Delicious trees and not so strong growing as Delicious trees. Trees are upright spreading, round-topped, and the density of twigs and foliage is medium. Trees have strong wide crotches like Golden Delicious, but their general configuration is more spreading like Jonathan.

Trees are very productive (Table 5) and have excellent orchard behavior. Yield comparisons in the first 10 years of study have shown Jonagold trees to be about 20 per cent more productive (22.3 bu cumulative yield) than comparable (18.6 bu) McIntosh trees (225). Fruits are borne mainly on spurs. Individual trees have been somewhat alternate in their bearing habits.

Jonagold tree trunks are stocky, and the trunk bark is shaggy, though often smoother than that of most other cultivars. The trunk bark often has wide spiralling cracks similar to those on Golden Delicious and Mutsu. However, these cracks apparently result in no harm to the trees. The bark of branches is smoother and a somewhat lighter shade of gray than that of most cultivars.

Pollination. Jonagold trees bloom in midseason, averaging about half a day later than Delicious bloom (Table 6). It is triploid (Table 4), and the pollen is not viable (Table 5). It cannot serve as a pollen source for other cultivars because it is triploid.

Fruit. Jonagold fruits are illustrated in Figure 12. Its very desirable fruit characteristics are summarized in Table 8. The fruits adhere well to the tree after they have reached harvest maturity. The average harvest date at Geneva is October 12, 2 days later than Delicious (Table 7). The average number of days from full bloom to harvest is 147, 2 more than Delicious.

Fruits are very large, mostly 3 inches and often 3½ inches in diameter. The shape is round-conic, nearly symmetrical, and only indistinctly ribbed. The stem length ranges from short to long but mostly long, and stems are thick. The cavity is acuminate, deep, varying from medium in width to broad, russeted on about 30 per cent of the fruits and smooth on the rest; it is symmetrical, slightly furrowed and very slightly lipped. The calyx is small to medium in size and varies from closed to nearly open. Fruits borne on old trees generally have closed calyxes, while those produced by young trees are more apt to have open calyxes. The calyx lobes are short, narrow, and acute. The basin is deep, medium in width, abrupt, symmetrical, and only slightly furrowed.

The fruit skin is thick, smooth, and of medium toughness. The skin color is 30 to 80 per cent covered with a medium shade of red; it is only slightly striped and is slightly dull. Sometimes there is a little scarfskin. The ground color is an attractive yellow with only a slight tinge of green, giving an appetizing over-all appearance. The dots are light brownish russet; they are numerous, small, and obscure. The calyx tube is long, wide, sometimes conic, and sometimes funnel-shaped. Stamens are basal. The core is very small for a large apple, and it is closed. This small core is a special attribute when Jonagold fruits are cored in preparation for processing. Small cores result in very few carpel particles attached to slices which must be hand trimmed. The carpels are cordate. The seeds are few, this being associated with triploidy. About half of the seeds are plump, large, wide, and long; the other half are flat and smaller.

The fruit flesh is light yellow in color, semifirm in texture, of medium grain, crisp, and unusually juicy. It is subacid to sweet, aromatic, and excellent in eating quality, having a bland, Jonathan-like flavor. When the flesh is exposed to air, browning caused by oxidation develops slowly.

Jonagold fruits are highly desirable as a fresh market type, and furthermore, they have excellent processing characteristics (Table 8). In controlled processing tests conducted by the Food Science and Technology Department (Table 9), when compared with Northern Spy which is one of the best processing cultivars, Jonagold rated good for applesauce and fair to good for canned slices and frozen slices.

Jonagold fruits have a long storage life (Table 10). When stored at 31°F, they remain in a good edible condition without rot or shrivel often as long as 6 months. The shelf life after storage is better than that of most cultivars.

Commercial Usefulness. Trees of Jonagold were sold by the New York State Fruit Testing Association under its selection number, N.Y. 43013-1, for 7 years before introduction, 1961 to 1967, and as Jonagold in 1968 (Table 2). The few commercial growers who have tested it have been impressed with its good performance. One grower planted 1,700 trees of it as one of six cultivars in a new 70-acre planting of processing apples. Because it is an especially desirable dual-purpose type, Jonagold has promise of becoming an important cultivar and is worthy of extensive trial.

— Roger D. Way, Apple Cultivars Introduced by the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, 1914–1968 (1971)