fruited lines and a number of small-
fruited cultivars, including 'New
Hampshire Midget', 'Sugar Baby',
and several from foreign countries
(Japan, Israel, Hungary). Early in
this program we aimed at the devel-
opment of smaller-fruited cultivars
of four fruit types: (1) a 'New
Hampshire Midget' type (about 5
lbs.); (2) a small (10 lb. average)
round gray type, with and without
stripes; (3) an intermediate size
(about 20 lb.) round gray type; and
(4) a 'Klondike' type (10-20 lb.).
We have since discontinued efforts
to select lines of the Klondike -
Peacock types because of inability
to eliminate uneven ripening char-
acteristics from these lines, and re-


cently we decided to discontinue
efforts with the 'New Hampshire
Midget' types because of a tendency
for fruit splitting in these lines. Our
present efforts toward the develop-
ment of small-fruited cultivars are
concentrated on several lines with
small, round, gray fruits (8-15 lb.
average) and several with interme-
diate size (about 20 lb.), round, gray,
striped fruits.
 We are seeking to develop vari-
eties that might appeal to con-
sumers for their easier handling from
market to home and their more
convenient storage in the home re-
frigerator. We are also considering
their adaptation to shipping in car-
tons, a prime requisite for overseas


'Sugarlee (1981)


shipment. Our test plantings and
limited distributions of our small-
fruited selections to consumers in-
dicate a reluctant acceptance on the
part of growers and distributors but
an enthusiastic endorsement by many
consumers.
 1972. Greenhouse and field tests
in 1971-72 and later confirmed the
suspicion that commercial seed stocks
of 'Jubilee' no longer had the same
degree of resistance to Fusarium wilt
as that found in original "breeder"
seed of 'Jubilee'. Increases of seed
from breeder stocks were made here
and distributed through the Florida
Foundation Seed Producers, Inc. to
seedsmen so they could produce
"registered" grade seed for sale to
growers. Registered grade seed is de-
fined by federal and state laws as
seed produced from foundation grade
seed. Growers willingly paid a pre-
mium price for such seed because of
its greater resistance to wilt, but
practical problems in the produc-
tion of sufficient quantities of regis-
tered seed have limited the success
of this approach to the problem.
Therefore, two other approaches
were initiated. A selfing program
was conducted for several years in
an attempt to eliminate any possible
loss of wilt resistance that might be
occurring because of heterozygosity
at one or more wilt-resistance -
governing loci, but since no appar-
ent progress was being made it was
terminated. A backcrossing pro-
gram to incorporate the high-level
wilt resistance of 'Smokylee' and
'Calhoun Gray' into 'Jubilee',