John, this information makes for some fascinating reading!  Thanks for passing it on.

I'm a big proponent of diversity in horticulture and pomiculture, for all sorts of reasons.  Reading about it gives me things to think about.  I recall, if I am correct, that returns to wild or older varieties revived tomato and corn strains, after excessive breeding weakened disease resistance.  The PRI program has improved apple disease resistance by adding Malus floribunda to their breeding program - Pristine, Priscilla, GoldRush, and many more. 

Those fruit forests are important.