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Production Factors Affecting Marketing 



At the recent apple conference in Washington, J. R. Magness said that 

 much of the surplus in heavy crop years conies from orchards east of the Mississip- 

 pi whore the average grower has less control over production factors than in the 

 Northwest. In the latter section the annual production since 1931 has not exceeded 

 55 mllion bushels and has not been lower than 47 million bushels. Over the 

 same period, the crop in the East has varied from year to year by more than 100/^. 

 In the Northwest orchards are planted on good land, tne moisture supply is con- 

 trolled by irrigation, trees are maintained in good vigor, there is less frost 

 hazard in spring, and an abundance of sunshine keeps the foliage working efficient- 

 ly. All of these factors tend to produce good annual yields. Lov; temperatures 

 in recent years in New iingland have thrown many of our Mcintosh trees into biennial 

 bearing. 



Th'i use of lime sulfur in New England injures our early foliage and there- 

 by effects fruit bud formation. Fruit buds are normally formed within 60 "to 75 

 days aftttr bloom. In the West a fungicide is not needed in early spring and '.he 

 early foliage in that section is much better as a result. Uniformly high li^^ it 

 intensity increases production by lotting thu foliage function over a longer 

 period* During a cloudy day the efficii^ncy of the leaf may be cut 50 per cent. 

 If we have an abundance of sunshine and a shortage of moisture during the period 

 of fruit bud formation, thjre is a tendency for a heavier bloom the following 

 spring. Trees in the Northwest are able to carry a heavy crop and still form 

 fruit buds for the next year. T»vo examples will help to illustrate the relation 

 between a dry summer and the crop the succeeding year. Dry summers were record- 

 ed in the East in 1930 and 1936. Our apple crops during those seasons vifere 99 

 million and 69 million bushesl, respectively. The two following years, 1931 and 

 1937, our apple crops were 148 million and 153 million bushels, respectively. 

 The natural hazards in orchards in the East may not be easy to overcome. The ov/n- 

 er of a poorly located orchard is usually helpless when a frost or a drought occur 

 Border line orchards tend to produce a crop when everybody else has a crop. Pro- 

 duction is much easier to control in a frost free location. 



Heavy thinning is practiced in the Northwest. In the East, drastic treat 

 mont in the way of thinning would be necessary to bring into annual bearing an 

 orchard which has acquired the biennial habit. Extremely heavy and extremely 

 early thinning completed within 30 days of full bloom will tend to do the trick. 

 But the fruit would have to bu thinned to at least two feet apart thus reducing 

 the amount of fruit to not more than 25/» of the original and allowing about 100 

 leaves per fruit. Mcintosh, Yellow Transparent, cjid R-^mo Beauty seem easier to 

 influence if the tree is in good vigor. Such an influence is, of course, feas- 

 ible only in a frost fro'^ location. 



Irrigation and thinning together reduce regular bearing to a greater 

 extent than either practice alone. This is to be expectad since a dry aummer 

 tends to stimulate more fruit buds. Experiments are now being performed wi h 

 toxic sprays applied during blo^m to eliminate the crop entirely from certain 

 tre^s. In an experimental test, one of the tar distillate sprays eliminated 

 99^ of thfe prospective set without preventing a crop thu next year. There is . 

 apparently no hope of destroying just enough of the blossoms to bring a.bout 

 annual bearing. 



