Cherries: Crop Physiology, Production and Uses
Main Description
The sweet cherry is one of the most popular of temperate fruit crops with consumers and is grown commercially in more than 40 countries of the world, in temperate, Mediterranean, subtropical and arid regions of all continents. The sour cherry is cultivated in fewer countries, mainly in Europe and the USA, and is used mainly in processed cherry products. Until recently, horticultural improvement of cherries as a commercial crop has been slow, and major production problems such as bird damage, rain-induced cracking, and bacterial diseases, have remained. However, in the last 25 years, major developments have occurred. New improved varieties of sweet cherry have been bred which have larger fruit, are more disease resistant and set fruit more reliably. Improved sour cherry varieties have also been bred and mechanised systems of harvesting introduced. New dwarfing rootstocks are now being released.
This book provides a comprehensive review of all of these topics, and many more. It covers all aspects of the botany, production and uses of sweet and sour cherries, and represents a definitive reference work for students and research workers in horticulture as well as professional fruit growers.
Main Contents
Part One: Introduction
• The taxonomic classification of sweet and sour cherries and a brief history of their cultivation, A D Webster
• World distribution of sweet and sour cherry production: national statistics, A D Webster and N E Looney
Part Two: Plant Materials
• Sweet cherry scions: characteristics of principal commercial cultivars, breeding objectives and methods, G Bargioni
• Sour cherries cultivars: objectives and methods of fruit breeding and characteristics of principal commercial cultivars, A Iezzoni
• Rootstocks for sweet and sour cherries, A D Webster and H Schmidt
Part Three: Crop Physiology and Husbandry
• Propagation of sweet and sour cherries, A D Webster
• Selection of the orchard site, orchard planning and establishment, M Longstroth and R L Perry
• Flowering , pollination and fruit set, M Thompson
• Cherry nutrient requirements and water relations, E J Hanson and E L Proebsting
• Tree canopy management and the orchard environment, principles and practices of pruning and training, J A Flore and C D Kesner
• Principles and practice of plant bioregulator usage in cherry production, N E Looney
• Rain-induced cracking of sweet cherries; its causes and prevention, J Vittrup Christensen
Part Four: Crop Protection
• Orchard floor vegetation management, E J Hogue and N E Looney
• Cherry diseases: their prevention and control, G I Mink and A L Jones
• Management and control of insect and mite pests of cherry, J F Brunner
• Sweet cherries: protection of fruit from bird and rain damage, D Pennell and A D Webster
Part Five: Harvesting, Handling and Utilization
• Harvesting and handling of sweet cherries for the fresh market, N E Looney, A D Webster and E M Kupferman
• Harvesting and handling sour and sweet cherries for processing, G K Brown and G Kollar
• Cherry processing, K Kaack, S E Spayd and S R Drake
Index
