Stelemaster

Orig. in Beltsville, Md., by D.H. Scott and George M. Darrow, U.S. Dept. Agr. and in Salisbury, Md., by W.F. Jeffers, Maryland Agr. Expt. Sta. Introd. in 1954. Fairland × Md. 683; first selected in 1950; seedlings. screened for resistance to red stele at Beltsville and resistant plants grown at Salisbury for evaluation of fruit. <b>Fruit:</b> size medium, generally uniform and smooth; surface medium red, glossy; flesh light red, firm, juicy, flavor mildly subacid; ripens about the same time as Blakemore and 5 to 7 days earlier than Temple; not satisfactory for frozen pack. <b>Plant:</b> vigorous, productive; leaves resistant to scorch but somewhat subject to leaf spot; its chief merit is multiple resistance to red stele.