None of these varieties has been the result of deliberate crosses or part of a plant breeding program. None of the present varieties have ever been tested together at one location for comparisons of fruit size, average yield per bush, uniformity of ripening, ease of culture, or disease resistance.
Some growers favor growing more than one selection in a commercial orchard.
This assumes different levels of disease resistance among varieties, thus hopefully avoiding total crop failure in case of a severe outbreak. At the present time, based on fruit trials at Brooks, Alberta, major producers appear to be Northline, Smoky, and Thiessen. Overall size and flavor was superior in Thiessen. In 1916, W.D. Albright set up a shelterbelt made up of saskatoon suckers and root pieces from various parts of his farm in Alberta's Peace River country. His farm later became the experimental sub-station of Beaverlodge.