EARLY RUBY CHERRY

Patent #4150    11/15/77

Mr. Ralph Moore, Sequoia Miniature Rose Nursery, Visalia, California discovered a seedling cherry tree in his nursery.  It possibly came from an employee's lunch in the area.  As the tree grew, it produced yearly a good early crop of large cherries.  Since Mr. Moore did not have another cherry in the area and the tree produced annually, he felt it was self fertile.

Mr. Moore came to Bob Ludekens and they agreed the tree should be patented and to divide the royalty 50% to the Hume Lake Christian Conference and the balance to Boy Scouts of America, Mt. Whitney Council.  We, the L. E. Cooke Co were proud to partner with Mr. Moore.

Mr. Moore was knowledgeable on securing plant patents so he did the work for the cherry we named Early Ruby.  We masked the tree several times to confirm as being self fertile and were surprised it was not.  We finally assumed a flowering cherry might have pollinized it.

Early Ruby ripens in early June, has large dark red, sweet, juicy excellent flavor.  The selection is highly productive.  The fruit stores for a long period.  The heavy foliage hides the fruit from the birds and sun, one reason for the very heavy crops.  Early Ruby handles the heat of the San Joaquin Valley very well.  The tree has become a pollinator and can be used as such for Black Tartarian, Van, pie cherries, and flowering cherries.  The fruit holds well on the tree. Chill hours are 700.

Bob Ludekens 12-30-2013

Early Ruby Cherry Information Page - Point of Sale Page