K - 



to cone into nrofitr.lDle 'beprlnrr. The hi.^hest rating asnigned to 

 r. M.^cS'-^chueetto soil thuG far is 95* ^'^^^ lovrest ic 10. 



Scorin.-:: the Fundam t? ntnl Fepturog of pn Qrchpr-d 



The complexity of an orchard ic n matter of conmon 

 kno^"ledge to anyone engaged in the gro^''ing of fruit. And if i"e 

 ^''ish to evaluate a particular block of trees it is only natu'^al 

 that '-^e think in terms of potential yields, since yields are 

 closely related to future profits. But yields are influenced 

 by r.pri'j different factors, including soil, draina^ge, site, vigor, 

 age of trees, etc. 



In an attempt to provide a reasonably simple yardstick 

 for measuring the abovt; factors, an orchard score card has recent- 

 ly been prepa.red, and several Ma.ssachusetts orchards have already 

 been scored. This score card is based on three fundamental items, 

 soil, site and tree. Forty points each r're assigned to soil and 

 tree, and 20 points to site, mak" ng a total of 100 points. The 

 actual score of nn orchard is obtained by majiir.g suitable deduc- 

 tions for the observable shortcomings. F'or example, if the Soil 

 Type, indicated by t'^e Soils Map of the county, has a rating of 

 90 (discussed in uaraj^^raph above), the deduction for that item 

 will be about 2 points and propo:.'tlonately more for lo'-'f^r ratings. 

 And if the tei-miiial gro^'^th of the tree avera.ges only half vhat It 

 should be for that F\z,'-'i , a deduction of about 3 points is made for 

 G-rov'th. Similarly, If part of the trees show the effects of a 

 severe ^vinter or are girdled by mice, they nre scored do\'Tn accord- 

 ingly, under Inj'iries. As regards Layout, the scorer makes a de- 

 duction ranging fi'^om to '50 points depending uron compactness of 

 the block, its variety arrangement, nearness of ^'ater supply, etc. 

 In the vrrlter's 0].-:iinion, the va.lue of such an. analysis lies more 

 in the identification of shortcomings than in the acti.ial score. 

 The various deductions tend to focus attention on the soecific 

 things v'hich prevent the orchard from being at its best. They 

 suggest to the graver the Question, IVi-iat can I do about it? In- 

 cidentally, it ^-'ill be noted that certain items like soil type, 

 slope, age of trens, etc., are not subject to imDrovemont, vrhile 

 most of the others can be ma.teri' lly changed and the score thereby 

 increased. And if v:e a.dopt the strndard of the school, a "passing 

 grade" for the orchard vrill be in the vicinity of 70. 



Orchard S core Card 



. Deductions 



(Type 



Soil (4-0 points) (Drainage 



(Cover 



(Elevation 



Site (20 points) (Slope 



(Roughness 



(G-roxvth 



(Framework 



Tree (4-0 points) (Age 



(Spacing 



(Injuries 



Layout ^^^ 



Total Deductions 



Score 



