Lögberg-Heimskringla - 30.05.2003, Síða 5

Lögberg-Heimskringla • Föstudagur, 30 Maí 2003 • page 5
FRÉTTIR • NEWS
Islensk eplatré í athugun
Icelandic Apple Trees Observed
Apple trees haven’t been a
common sight in Icelandic
gardens - but that might change
soon.
At the horticultural center
Mörk experiments and observa-
Even though the apples from
the Russian apple tree are
not as large as the one that
can be bought from the
stores, they are very fresh
tasting and delicious.
tions are being done on apple
trees that could be suitable for
Icelandic conditions. Jóhann B.
Jónsson and Jón Þórir
Guðmundsson, horticulturalists,
are in charge of these observa-
tions.
“It began in earnest the
winter before last, when we
began to collect material for our
observations,” said Jóhannes B.
Jónsson.
“The interest began when
we saw a few apple trees in the
capital city that were yielding
crops. These were old apple
trees in the older districts of the
city. Two of these trees yield
ample crops. They are both well
sheltered and get lots of sun.
These are key factors in grow-
ing apple trees.
One of those trees is proba-
bly an ancient Russian variety
and it was planted as an import-
ed plant in its time. One can
estimate that it is about thirty
years old. The other tree is a bit
older and we don’t know where
it came from.”
What kind of apple trees are
you observing at Mörk?
“We have been collecting
varieties that grow in northem
climates, for example from
Canada, the Nordic Countries
and Russia.”
Have you been grafting
these varieties at all?
“No, we won’t try that until
we have all the different vari-
eties and we are just staiting on
that aspect now. Grafting takes
decades to complete.”
Which kind of tree, do you
like the best?
“The ancient Russian vari-
ety is interesting, it is called
Transpcirente Blanche, and it
has yellow-green apples that are
rather sweet tasting. The largest
apples we have seen are the size
of a good size mandarin. The
apples from the other tree are a
bit smaller, but the reason for
that couldbe that it hasn’t been
well enough cared for.
The apple tree branches and
fruit need to be thinned out reg-
ularly and they must have good
fertilization. One must watch
out for possible insect plagues.”
Do these apple trees flower
abundantly in the spring?
Yes, they have an abun-
dance of flowers in the spring -
they look like an ocean of pink
and white flowers.”
Do you have trees for sale
now?
“Yes we have imported
trees for sale, but we will possi-
bly have some Icelandic apple
trees for sale next spring. We
want to mention. that at Mörk
we are also doing initial obser-
vations on varieties of chetTy
trees and other fmit trees. We
have a few of those trees for
sale as well.
Information from Morgunblaðið, Á. H.
Jóhannes B. Jónsson with
the Canadian variety
Rescue, in a pot. This is one
of the hardiest American
varieties that has small, red
apples, sweet and tasty.
PHOTOS BY JIM SMART/MORGUNBLAÐIÐ
Icelandic National League of North
America Future Directioris
Continued from Page 1
The future directions are
not a radical shift from the pres-
ent. The chapters and clubs all
endorsed the fact that the
INL/NA had a role to play as
one of the principal organiza-
tions serving the Icelandic-
North American communities
and as a liaison to Iceland. The
aim of the organization when it
was established in 1919 was to
maintain, preserve and promote
Icelandic culture and heritage
in North America. That mission
was considered valid after
eighty-four years and was
endorsed as the raison d’étre for
the foreseeable future.
The current structure of
having one INL for North
America works. Because the
INL spans both the United
States and Canada, there are
bound to be jurisdictional issues
and concerns. Consensus was
that these could be dealt with
between good neighbours on an
ad-hoc basis as the issues arise.
The overall majority of
INL/NA members prefer to
maintain the same liaison with
the INL organization in Iceland
that we currently enjoy. The
chair of that group is invited to
attend INL/NA conventions, the
past president of the INL North
America is a rnember of the
INL of Iceland Board of
Directors. Also, we are enthusi-
astic about the participation of
our INL/NA members in vari-
ous events and activities organ-
ized by INL Iceland. An excel-
lent example of this kind of
activity is the Iceland
Homecoming that is being
planned for August 2004. We
can look forward with great
anticipation to more informa-
tion on that event.
The clubs and chapters
endorsed a continuation of the
existing programs being spon-
sored through the INL. The list
highlighted the International
Visits Program and included
other activities such as Saga
distribution and heritage signs
and calendars. The arrange-
ment with Great Canadian
Travel for a ‘fínders fee’ being
paid to the INL/NA for any
travel booked to Iceland by
individuals who identified
themselves as members of an
INL/NA club was endorsed
again. The members like the
annual convention moving from
location to location. This gives
clubs the opportunity to show-
case themselves and more local
members the opportunity to par-
ticipate.
The INL/NA plans to look
into new initiatives such as
teacher exchanges, language
carnps and house exchanges.
There was interest in investigat-
ing the possibility of developing
an INL/NA Guest House net-
work or a directory of member-
owned bed and breakfasts.
Members all want to see contin-
ued interaction between clubs in
North America and with INL
Iceland. Members also
expressed a need for a resource
centre (language-teaching
materials, videos, ‘How-to’
manuals for hosting intemation-
al aitists, etc.). Chapters could
tap into the resource bank for
advice and information for local
activities. This could be accom-
plished either as a central
‘library’ in one location or an
on-line inventory of what is
held by individual clubs that
could be loaned to others.
Other communications
issues were also discussed. The
INL/NA executive promised to
investigate various rneans of
creating an ‘electronic INL/NA’
where conference calls and
meetings could be held via
computer links or through new
technologies that would permit
interactive audio/video telecon-
ferences. This is becoming
more important as the member-
ship broadens and the make-up
of the INL/NA Board of
Directors becomes more geo-
graphically diverse. No longer
do you need to reside within
100 km of Winnipeg in order to
be a member of the INL/NA
executive. This is an exciting
departure frorn the traditional
INL/NA which relied on
Manitoba to produce a working
executive. We know there are a
lot of talented INL/NA mem-
bers who are ready to volunteer
their time and energies to the
directorship of the organization
and geography is becoming less
and less of a barrier.
The fmancial implications
of the future directions will
appear in next week 's issue.
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Sixth Hecla Reunion
Saturday, July 19th
Complimentary Belgian Waffle Breakfast
at Hecla Hall
9:00 to 11:00 am
Dance: Gull Harbour Resort Hotel
8:00 pm to 1:00 am
Tickets; $12.00
Late Lunch Served
Everyone Welcome
Cash Bar
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