Draper

'Draper' came out of Jim Hancock's programme at Michigan State University, was released in 2004, and was named for Arlen Draper, the USDA breeder behind much of the modern highbush gene pool. It is a 1990 cross of 'Duke' with the USDA elite selection G751, made specifically to move G751's unusually firm, long-keeping fruit into Duke's earlier-ripening background; the seedling was picked out in 1995 at Benton Harbor, Michigan from 77 siblings and is covered by US Plant Patent 15,103. The result became the commercial benchmark for shelf life in northern highbush: the patent rates firmness 9 out of 9 and reports fruit consistently firmer than both 'Duke' and 'Bluecrop' across four years of Michigan trials and two in Oregon. PNW 656 gives it the top large-scale commercial rating in the guide, noting that it stores extremely well and ripens in a concentrated window, which is what machine harvest and long-haul shipping need. Its pedigree is mostly Vaccinium corymbosum with small contributions from V. tenellum, V. ashei and V. darrowii.