Malling series
Encyclopedia
History
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
. Alexander the Great sent samples of dwarf apple trees back to his teacher, Aristotle
Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
in Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
. They were maintained at the Lyceum
Lyceum
The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies between countries; usually it is a type of secondary school.-History:...
, a center of learning in Greece.
Dwarf apples are mentioned during the Song Dynasty
Song Dynasty
The Song Dynasty was a ruling dynasty in China between 960 and 1279; it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, and was followed by the Yuan Dynasty. It was the first government in world history to issue banknotes or paper money, and the first Chinese government to establish a...
in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
(11th to 13th centuries) Initial propagation was likely by severing a root and causing it to sucker. The dwarfing clones were propagated in gardens for their novelty and not their efficiency. They were often trained to elaborate shapes such as pyramids, trellises and espaliers.
In the mid 1800’s, horticulturists began referring to the rootstocks by name. They were called Paradise (or French Paradise) or Doucin (or English Paradise), with the former being more dwarfing than the latter.
However, there was much variation in the plant material in size control. Many new stocks had been introduced inaccurately under these names and undoubtedly viruses and genetic mutations had occurred in the plant material. In the late 19th century, one author described 14 different kinds of Paradise rootstocks. This led to research workers at the East Malling Research Station
East Malling Research Station
East Malling Research is a now private company located in East Malling, Kent in England.-History:A research station was established on the East Malling site in 1913 on the impetus of local fruit growers. The original buildings are still in use today...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
to gather the selections up to determine their trueness to name. They concluded that indeed, there were numerous misnamed and mixed collections of plant material.
In 1912, Ronald Hatton
Ronald Hatton
Sir Ronald George Hatton was a highly distinguished pomologist.-Life and career:...
initiated the work of classification, testing and standardization of apple tree rootstock
Rootstock
A rootstock is a plant, and sometimes just the stump, which already has an established, healthy root system, used for grafting a cutting or budding from another plant. The tree part being grafted onto the rootstock is usually called the scion...
s. With the help of Dr Wellington, Hatton sorted out the incorrect naming and mixtures then widespread in apple rootstocks distributed throughout Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. These verified and distinct apple rootstocks were then distributed throughout the world as Types, initially Type I through Type IX.
Several of the Malling series rootstocks are several hundred years old and were known by other names before the Malling research center created a rootstock collection and renamed the rootstocks as follow :
- M.I (M.1), vigorous, had no name,
- M.II (M.2), vigorous, was "English Paradise",
- M.III (M.3), semi-dwarf, had no name,
- M.IV (M.4), intermediate, was "Doucin jaune de Holstein",
- M.V (M.5), vigorous, was "Doucin amélioré" (Improved doucin),
- M.VI (M.6), very vigorous, was "River's nonsuch paradise",
- M.VII (M.7), semi-dwarf, was "Doucin Reinette" aka "Doucin vert", bred around 1688 in France,
- M.VIII (M.8), dwarf, was "french paradise" (Malus pumila) aka "Clarke dwarf",
- M.IX (M.9) was previously known as "Jaune de Metz" or "Paradis". Selected as chance seedlingChance seedlingA chance seedling is a plant that is the product of unintentional breeding. It may be a genetically unique individual with desirable characteristics that is then intentionally bred. Plants that come from the artificial union of gametes from a maternal and paternal source are not chance...
in FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in 1828. - M.XVI (M.16), Very vigorous, was "Ketziner Ideal"
Only two of these original Malling selections, M.9 (Jaune de Metz) and M.7, are now used extensively by commercial orchardists.
Later, further types were added to the original nine, though most of these were invigorating rootstocks which have since disappeared
largely from commerce.
In 1917 a second research station, the John Innes Centre
John Innes Centre
The John Innes Centre located in Norwich, Norfolk, England is an independent centre for research and training in plant and microbial science...
of Merton
London Borough of Merton
The London Borough of Merton is a borough in southwest London, England.The borough was formed under the London Government Act in 1965 by the merger of the Municipal Borough of Mitcham, the Municipal Borough of Wimbledon and the Merton and Morden Urban District, all formerly within Surrey...
near London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England, joined with the East Malling station to begin a breeding program. Their efforts, oriented mainly toward developing rootstocks resistant to
woolly apple aphids, produced two series of clones. The first was the Merton Immune series (MI number) M.I. 778-793 (1930’s), which is the only one still being used commercially. It is commonly referred to as Merton 793. The second series were designated the Malling-Merton (M.M.) series in 1952. These were numbered M.M. 101 — 115. Resistance to WAA was acquired by making crosses with 'Northern Spy'. Even later three additional Malling stocks were introduced: M.25 in 1952, M.26 in 1965 and M.27 in 1976.
During the 50's - 70's, two virus indexed (heat-treated) series were released. First was the EM series and then later the EMLA (East Malling-Long Ashton) series. The series with viruses removed are slightly more vigorous than their "dirty" predecessors of which MM.106 and MM.111 are still used widely today.
Malling-Merton series
- 'M25': Very vigorous.
- 'M26': Moderately dwarfing, M.16 x M.9, introduced in 1959.
- 'M27': Very dwarfing.
- 'MM106': Moderately vigorous, M.1 x Northern Spy': Drought-resistant.
- 'MM111': Vigorous. Merton 793 x Northern Spy