Cultivar 172: Scout

Scout is a prairie apricot selection linked to Morden, Manitoba. It is usually described as a Manchurian apricot seedling, or as Prunus mandshurica or one of its hybrids. [S3] [S4] [S6] It was developed at the Morden Experimental Station in 1937. It became one of the hardy apricots recommended for the Prairie Provinces. South Dakota sources also mention it as a Manitoba apricot worth trying. [S2] [S4] [S5] [S6]

Sources link Scout to seed sent from the Experimental Station of the Eastern Siberian Railway at Echo, Manchuria. This places it clearly in the movement of hardy Asian apricot material into prairie breeding and testing. [S6] This background helps explain why it appears in both Canadian prairie recommendation lists and northern U.S. extension guidance. [S2] [S4] It was also tested and indexed widely enough to appear in later prairie cultivar references. [S5]

The fruit is described as large for a hardy apricot, about 4.0 to 5.5 cm across, or about 1 9/16 by 1 7/16 by 1 1/4 inches. [S5] [S6] It is bronzy gold or bronze gold, sometimes with a red blush, with deep yellow flesh. [S4] [S5] [S6] Descriptions call the flesh fine, tender, not juicy, and freestone. [S6] Quality is rated fair for fresh dessert use, but good for canning and jam. This places Scout more in the useful kitchen apricot class than among high dessert sorts. [S4] [S6]

Scout ripens early. Sources place the season from the end of July and first of August to early August. [S4] [S5] [S6] The tree is described as upright, round headed, vigorous, hardy, healthy, and productive when cross pollinated. [S6] Prairie recommendation tables list it for both more favorable and less favorable zones. This suggests broad adaptation within prairie conditions rather than narrow local use. [S4]

Within the archive, Scout matters as an early hardy apricot tied to Manchurian germplasm and to the Morden program's search for fruit that could survive and crop on the prairies. [S3] [S4] [S6] Sources differ slightly on classification. Some call it P. mandshurica or one of its hybrids, while another index lists it under P. armeniaca. [S3] [S5] The descriptive evidence points in the same direction: Scout is a hardy prairie apricot selected from northern Asian material and remembered mainly for earliness, productivity, and processing quality. [S4] [S6]

Summary source basis

• S1: South Dakota Fruit Garden (visual sample pages 9-11)
• S2: South Dakota Fruit Garden
• S3: 9c684c14 7509 4b78 a803 0bf01a64aa28
• S4: Tree fruit production for the Prairie Provinces
• S5: An index of fruit cultivars tested or developed on the Canadian prairies.
• S6: TreeFruitsGrownInPrairieOrchards WRLeslie 1946 HQ

This summary currently draws chiefly from TreeFruitsGrownInPrairieOrchards WRLeslie 1946 HQ, with 5 additional supporting sources linked below.

Featured source descriptions

“apricots of Manitoba”
— ^[1]

“A Manitoba apricot.”
— ^[2]

“The Scout entry begins on this page and continues onto the next page.”
— ^[3]

“Listed under apricots for more favorable zones.”
— ^[4]

Direct parent cultivars

• No direct linked parent cultivars promoted yet.

Parentage claim text

• No direct breeding_cross claim text yet.

Derived or downstream cultivar links

• No derived or downstream lineage links yet.

Source-story quotations

• the Scout and Moongold apricots of Manitoba suggested for trial.South Dakota Fruit Garden (visual sample pages 9-11), p2
• the Scout and Moongold apricots of Manitoba suggested for trial.South Dakota Fruit Garden (visual sample pages 9-11), p2
• the Scout and Moongold apricots of Manitoba suggested for trial.South Dakota Fruit Garden (visual sample pages 9-11), p2

Taxonomy context: No family-tree context surfaced yet.

Related cultivars mentioned in source context