Friendship of Peoples

Late-season variety. Obtained at the VNIIS named after I. V. Michurin by crossing Antonovka ordinary with Pippin saffron. Breeders: G. A. Lobanov, Z. I. Ivanova, V. K. Zaytsev, S. I. Isaev. Included in the State Register for the North-Western region in 1999.

The tree is moderately vigorous, with a wide, rounded, spreading crown of medium density. Branches emerge from the trunk at nearly straight angles, arranged compactly; branch tips are directed upward. Bark on the trunk and main branches is smooth, dark gray with a brownish-red tint. Fruit-bearing type is mixed — on fruiting spurs and shoots, rarely on fruiting buds.

Shoots are upright, medium thickness, curved, dark-cherry colored, heavily pubescent. Buds are few, poorly expressed, small. Leaves are large, egg-shaped or elliptical. Margin is toothed or toothed-serrated. Blade is flat, positioned at 90º angle, heavily pubescent, dark green, leaf tip downward. Petiole is medium. Stipules are medium or small.

Flowers are medium, white, fragrant, petals oval. Stigma style is medium, stigmas equal to anthers.

Fruits (Fig.) are medium-sized, weighing 120-150 g, conical in shape. Fruit surface is smooth. Skin is medium, glossy, tough. Main color at harvest and consumer maturity is light-yellow; covering color is red or dark-red, bright, covering the entire fruit surface. Numerous lenticels, noticeable. Peduncle is thick, short or medium length. Calyx cup is deep, wide or medium. Bitterness is weak, sometimes medium. Calyx is half-open. Receptacle is medium width, small, ribbed. Heart is large, inversely heart-shaped. Chambers are half-open. Subcalyx tube is short, medium. Seeds are medium size, brown with a red tint.

Flesh is creamy, medium density, tender, juicy, slightly sweet-tart, dessert flavor, moderate aroma, taste score 4.2 points. Chemical composition of fruit: sugars — 13.7%, titratable acids — 0.86%, ascorbic acid — 18.2 mg/100g.

Harvest maturity occurs in mid-August.

Fruits are intended for fresh consumption from the third decade of August until mid-October. Suitable for technical processing: dried fruit, juices, jams, etc.

Self-sterile. Best pollinators: Melba, Dream, Paprika.

Fruit production begins on the 4th-5th year after planting in the orchard. Young trees yield moderate or good annual yields; from 10-year-old trees, yield reaches 57 kg per tree. With age, fruiting becomes irregular. Fruit quality is high, characterized by excellent transportability. Damage on dark-red fruit surface is generally not noticeable.

On seedling rootstocks, tree and crown size become very large, so propagation should be done on dwarf rootstocks (62-396). Pruning method is established for varieties with mixed fruiting type. Suitable for mechanical harvesting.

Highly winter-hardy; in winters 1967/68 and 1968/69, only slight frost damage (0.5 points) was observed. Drought-tolerant. Highly resistant to fungal diseases; even in wet years, leaves and fruits are not affected by scab.

Advantages of the variety: good winter hardiness, annual yield, disease resistance; highly transportable, fully colored, dessert-flavored fruits.

Disadvantages of the variety: fruit drop before harvest, large crown size when propagated on seedling rootstocks.