Cultivar 240: Rescue

Rescue is a prairie apple-crab, or crabapple, selection in Malus. It is valued for its small but good quality fruit and for its role in cold climate apple breeding. Sources describe it as a seedling of Blushed Calville from the Experimental Farm at Scott, Saskatchewan, and place its introduction in the 1930s. One source gives 1936, while another gives 1938. [S2] [S3] Rescue was widely recommended for the Prairie Provinces, including less favorable areas. It later became a recurring parent in prairie breeding work. [S1] [S2] [S8]

The fruit ripens in late August or early in the season. [S2] [S3] [S10] [S12] Sources consistently describe it as small, about 3.5 cm or a little over 1 1/2 inches, round to round-ovate, and yellow to greenish yellow, usually washed, blushed, or striped dull to bright red. [S2] [S3] [S10] [S12] The flesh is described as yellowish white to white, firm, crisp, juicy, sweet sub-acid, and free from astringency. [S10] [S11] It was rated good to excellent for dessert quality. Sources also recommend it for juice, canning, and processing. [S1] [S3] [S10] [S11] One prairie source calls it a top rated juicer. [S1] Some reports say it keeps quite well if picked as it ripens, while another gives storage of about one month. Fruit left too long may become mealy, though some tree-ripened fruit were noted as translucent and very sweet. [S1] [S2] [S3] [S11]

The tree is described as a moderate grower and bearer, productive once established, and very hardy. [S10] [S12] One source says it is slow to bear but productive. [S1] Saskatchewan and prairie rating tables repeatedly place Rescue in the very hardy class, and one source says it showed only trace injury in Zones 5 and 6A in most years. [S10] [S11] [S12] It was recommended for all Prairie Provinces and appears in lists for both more favorable and less favorable prairie areas. [S2] Fireblight is the main caution. Multiple sources rate it as susceptible. [S10] [S11] [S12] One historical note also says it has no tolerance to chlorosis. [S1]

Rescue also matters because it appears repeatedly as a parent in prairie breeding. It is named as a parent of Norkent and September Ruby in Haralson x Rescue or Rescue x Haralson crosses, and of PF10 in Haralson x Rescue. [S6] [S7] [S9] Prairie breeding records also show many Rescue crosses with Melba, Mantet, Haralson, McIntosh, Goodland, and Rosilda, and count Rescue among the most frequent female parents in the Prairie Fruit Breeding Project material. [S8] A University of Saskatchewan ancestry study lists Rescue as an intermediate parent contributing to later advanced selections. [S5] Rescue was therefore not just a hardy prairie fruit in its own right, but also one of the building blocks that moved hardy apple breeding forward. [S5] [S8]

Summary source basis

• S1: Edible Apples in Prairie Canada
• S2: Tree fruit production for the Prairie Provinces
• S3: An index of fruit cultivars tested or developed on the Canadian prairies.
• S4: HortFactsAppleCultivars CStushnoff 1985
• S5: ANCESTRY OF APPLE SELECTIONS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SASKATCHEWAN
• S6: Norkent
• S7: PF10
• S8: PrairieFruitBreedingDoc

This summary currently draws chiefly from Edible Apples in Prairie Canada, with 11 additional supporting sources linked below.

Featured source descriptions

“Atop rated juicer.”
— ^[1]

“H1 hardiness rating.”
— ^[1]

“Described as slow to bear but productive.”
— ^[1]

“The entry says it is sure to give satisfaction with Hayne 120 or Dauphin as pollinators.”
— ^[1]

Direct parent cultivars

• Haralson (relation=cross_parent)
• Melba (relation=cross_parent)

Parentage claim text

• Named as one parent of Norkent in the stated lineage Haralson x Rescue.
• Named as one parent of PF10 in the lineage Haralson x Rescue.
• Rescue is named as one parent in 226 Rescue x Melba seedlings.
• Named as a parent of September Ruby in the cross Rescue x Haralson.

Derived or downstream cultivar links

• Mantet (lineage link)

Source-story quotations

• Rescue (blushed Calville sdlg) Scott lc.1933? Fruit 3.5cm, yellow-green with crimson red blush. Dessert, canning, and juice. Slow to bear... Productive, and keeps quite well if picked when ripening.Edible Apples in Prairie Canada, p60
• Rescue (blushed Calville sdlg) Scott lc.1933? Fruit 3.5cm, yellow-green with crimson red blush. Dessert, canning, and juice. Slow to bear... Productive, and keeps quite well if picked when ripening.Edible Apples in Prairie Canada, p60
• Rescue (blushed Calville sdlg) Scott lc.1933? Fruit 3.5cm, yellow-green with crimson red blush. Dessert, canning, and juice. Slow to bear... Productive, and keeps quite well if picked when ripening.Edible Apples in Prairie Canada, p60
• Rescue (blushed Calville sdlg) Scott lc.1933? Fruit 3.5cm, yellow-green with crimson red blush. Dessert, canning, and juice. Slow to bear... Productive, and keeps quite well if picked when ripening.Edible Apples in Prairie Canada, p60

Taxonomy context: No family-tree context surfaced yet.

Related cultivars mentioned in source context