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Article: Seedlings could yield prime Christmas trees Company, government work to make balsam firs with sturdier branches
- Article from:
- The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Milwaukee, WI)
- Article date:
- December 8, 1996
CopyrightCopyright 1996 The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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An evergreen farmer predicts a genetically improved balsam fir
will live up to its hype of growing sturdier branches that can bear
the burden of heavy Christmas ornaments.
Rudy Peroutka of Antigo said he planted 2,500 seedlings of a
strain of balsam called the Forgene Elite. It is named after the
Rhinelander biotechnology company that helped develop it.
Neil Nelson, president of Forgene Inc., said it is the first
Christmas tree strain to take advantage of the principles of genetic
analysis and selective breeding.
The new breed starts growing about two weeks later in the spring
than normal seedlings, a delay avoiding problems of an early frost
that sometimes hurts seedlings in late May, ...