Simon: Release: Carolong

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE                    AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SERVICE                       WASHINGTON, D.C. 20250                                 and     THE CALIFORNIA AND FLORIDA AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATIONS               RELEASE OF MARKET CARROT HYBRID CAROLONG The United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service and the California and Florida Agricultural Experiment Stations announce the release of carrot hybrid CAROLONG tested under pedigree (6439Sx6274M2)xApopka.  CAROLONG is a fresh market carrot adapted for production in both organic and mineral soils of California and Florida.  It is especially suitable where there is a need or preference for the stump-rooted shape characteristics of the Nantes variety for market or home garden production.  The flavor and quality of CAROLONG are acceptable and with its cylindrical shape and extra length it is expected to compete well with Nantes in foreign and U.S. markets. CAROLONG was included in appearance trials for 3 years (1984-86) at El Centro California and two years (1985 & 1986) at Zellwood, Florida (see Table 1).  Theses trials demonstrated that hybrid CAROLONG is acceptable as a commercial variety and should be competitive with most available varieties on the basis of appearance, color and shape. A taste panel trial in 1985 indicated that CAROLONG was competitive with the flavor of recently established varieties A Plus, Savory and Apopka (see Table 2). The inbred components that make up the female parent (6439x62742) were released for producing the hybrid A Plus. The pollen parent, FN2-9, was released under the name Apopka as an open-pollinated source for breeding and production.  A pilot production contract with Agrigenetics Corporation provides a

production share to seedsmen who make a special request from the USDA.  For breeding purposes, smaller seed quantities will be supplied from our 1986 cage isolations.  Written requests from breeders and seedsmen should be addressed to C. E. Peterson, USDA, ARS, Department of Horticulture, University of Wisconsin 53706 before May 1, 1987. ____________________________________    __________________________ Director, California Agricultural       Date  Experiment Station ____________________________________    __________________________ Director, Florida Agricultural          Date  Experiment Station ____________________________________    __________________________ Administrator, ARS                      Date

Table 1.  Average appearance of carrot hybrids based on seedsmen and grower evaluations.                                CALIFORNIA              FLORIDA    Entry                     1984     1985     1986     1985     1986 CAROLONG                  3.1      2.8      3.4      3.5      2.9 Apopka                    2.8      3.0      2.8      3.1      2.4 Scarlet Nantes                     2.0               2.2 Hi-Color 9                         2.8      2.8      2.4      2.9 Imperator 58              2.6      1.9      2.7      1.6      2.5 Candy Pack                2.3      3.3      2.9      2.2      2.1 Orlando Gold              2.8      2.3      2.9      3.9      3.3 Golden State              2.3      3.0      3.3      3.0      2.9 Olympiad                  3.7      2.5      2.3      1.7      1.9 Savory                    3.0      3.0      3.4      3.4      2.5 Number of judges          49       52       43       10       39 Range and average of 14                   2.4-3.1           1.6-2.8 commercially hybrids                        2.8               2.4 Scores: 1=unacceptable, 2=poor, 3=fair, 4=good and 5=excellent. Table 2. Overall Preference, 1985 Taste Panel               CAROLONG    A Plus     Savory     Apopka Florida        3.36 ef     3.65 e     3.64 e     2.99 f California     4.33 c      4.83 ab    4.98 ab    4.28 ed Score: 1 = dislike extremely, 7 = like extremely.

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