THE STUDY OF A FEW OLD APPLE VARIETIES AND LOCAL POPULATIONS AT POHALMA NURSERY IN LUGOJ, TIMIS COUNTY

The purpose of the current study was to analize aspects reffering to the growth vigour of the apple trees in the third year after the planting (the trunk's diameter, the height of the tree and the length of the annual growths) as well as properties of the fruit itself, including number of fruits per tree, small and large diameter, height and mass of the fruits, dry matter and sugar content. All 26 varieties are grafted on the M106 rootstock. The large diameter of the fruits varied between 42.00 mm for 'Cretesc' variety and 85.33 mm for 'Curcubatoase', the average being 63.06 mm. The mass of the fruits ranged between 63.69 g for 'Cretesc' variety and 334.96 g for 'Curcubatoase' variety, the average of the experience being 189.09 g. The biggest fruits belonged to 'Curcubatoase' and `Jonathan', whereas 'Cretesc', 'MarTiganesc' and 'Floranesti' had smaller fruits. In addition, a questionnaire had been created, which revealed that most people are aware of the fact that it is challenging to find truly healthy apples, but they consume these fruits regularly.