DATE: 6/29/06

CONTACT: Howard Hiller, 864-638-5889; hhiller@clemson.edu

WRITER: Diane Palmer, 864-656-4741; spalmer@clemson.edu

Clemson plans field day for peach and apple growers

CLEMSON – Clemson Extension has scheduled a field day for peach and apple growers at Clemson University’s Musser Fruit Research Farm, July 17, from 10 a.m. to noon. Lunch will follow. The event is free.

Clemson University Horticulture Professor Desmond Layne will be discussing peach varieties and Greg Reighard, Clemson University horticulture professor, will be talking about other crops.

“Growers will get a chance to look at new white peach varieties that might fit in their operation,” said Howard Hiller, Clemson Extension agent. “They will get to see the trees and taste the fruit of these varieties.”

Musser Farm is a 240-acre fruit tree research farm. It has an excellent collection of commercial peach cultivars and related wild Prunus species, as well as nectarine, almond, apricot, plum, cherry and various interspecific hybrids.

Growers will also get an update on insect and disease control from the experts, Dan Horton and Guido Schnabel.

All growers are invited to attend from the Upstate as well as Georgia and North Carolina. The research farm is located at 604 South Friendship Road at Oconee Point, Seneca.

For more information, contact Howard Hiller at 864-638-5889 or hhiller@clemson.edu.

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