Integration of Conservation Strategies of Plant Genetic ... - Genres

Little ancient villages, abandoned farms, isolated houses, former large land properties, ancient villas,
obsolete vineyards or previously cultivated fields, already become woods, were visited (Dalla Ragione,
1992).
It was useful to visit the monasteries, especially cloisters, where an economy independent from the
outside influence was perpetrated for long time. The monasteries reflected, in a urban environment, the
same subsistence system that was present in the isolated farms. The friars who begged to the central
Italian farms, were the typical character, of the countryside, in the past; often the farmers gave them, as
alms, some fruits or seeds. Friars always were great divulgers and especially great keepers of plant
species. Special permits were needed to enter in their large gardens, where old varieties of pears and figs
were found.
A farm, famous for the production of the same old fruits, since 40 years, was occasionally met. This
farm, close to an ancient road (Salt Road), between Umbria and Toscany regions, is situated in an area
which was densely inhabited in the past and is now almost completely abandoned. The farmer, 85 years
old, is still alive. He knows every tree of its farm and he grows many varieties which consecutively
produce fruits, almost every 15 days, from May to November. An example of this sequence is the
following. May: cherries "Maggiaiole"; June: "Giugnina" pears; July: "Verdacchia" plums; "Corniola"
cherries; "Lugliesca" pears; August: "Moscatella", "Bianchina" and "Garofina" pears; "Agostina" apples;
September: "Brutta" and "Buona" and "di S.Maria" pears; October: "del Castagno", "Roggia", and
"Rosona" apples; "Vernia" pears for cooking; November: sorbs and medlars.
Apples, gathered in October with the declining moon, are conserved in the fruit storage until May. In
this way the annual- circle is completed. In many other cases isolated and abandoned trees were found,
from which it was very difficult to obtain material for reproduction, as a result of being very old and no
longer cultivated.
Simultaneously with the field studies, historical research was carried on, examining old agricultural
handbooks or material from the ancient Farmer Teaching Travelling ( Cattedre Ambulanti Agricole ),
documents from convents and local toponymy.
Results and discussion
Arboreal Archeology project
Since 1983, on a private farm, in the hills around Città di Castello, a private fruit collection was
established: "Archeologia Arborea" (Arboreal Archeology ).
The soil in this farm is a typical one, arranged in terraces, where fruit trees, propagated by grafting or
budding on wild rootstocks, are cultivated by traditional methods.
At the moment the collection consists of 312 plants with 22 old varieties of apples, 12 of pears, 8 of
cherries, 8 of plums, 3 of peaches, 5 of figs, some sorbs, medlars, almonds, walnuts; some other unusual
plants which were, once, well known and are now almost forgotten, as, for instance, the jujube tree or
the azarole tree, are also preserved. In this way the traditional chronological sequence of fruit production
is maintained (Boni,1925) and some old methods of grafting were tried: sour black cherry (amarelle) on
plum, pear on oak, peach on willow (Berti;Cavazza, 1883; Cantoni,1884). On the other hand
identification, classification, description and reproduction work is carried on.
Every part of the trees, flowers, leaves and fruits have been documented by photography; an atlas, with
the double aim of indicating the geographical distribution of indigenous fruit trees and of protecting