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areas of marked differences in summer temperature may be only short distances apart, 

 and of similar elevation. The sections of high sumiTier temperatures are not suitable 

 for s^iveet cherries, for example, bat may be well suited for peach production. Sweet 

 cherries grovm at high summer temperatures may develop as many as 20 to 30 percent 

 double fruits, (hot summers influence development of flo\TCr parts) hence they are 

 grovm in areas of relatively cool summers. 



In the East, every good fruit grower knows he should plant trees on elevated 

 sites to reduce the chances of spring frost damage. In California, relatively 

 little- deciduoB fruit is gro\m on hills or slopes. The bulk of it is groi/m on the 

 flatter, more fei^tile land. In the Watsonville area, for example, some of the 

 apple orchards are nearly completely surroiinded by higher land. The orchards on 

 the slopes and hills are not generally as productive as those on the level land. 

 Orchard heating is a common practice in some fruit areas, but in other places, 

 frost does not seem to be a serious hazard even in i/hat we would consider frost 

 susceptable locations. 



As I mentioned last month, deciduous tree fruit yields here are generally very 

 high by our standards. In the Watsonville district, yields of 2,000 bushels per 

 acre are possible. GiEgrou'-er indicated to me that a minimum yield of 700 - 1,000 

 bushels per acre are needed to stay in business. Although Easterners often don't 

 think of California as an important apple producing state, they produce around 

 nine-million bushels annually. Yellow Newtown, Gravenstein, Red Delicious, Rome, 

 Jonathan, BellfloTrer and Golden Delicious are the important varieties in the order 

 listed. The bulk of the crop is sold to processors. Red Delicious is the Drincipai 

 variety being planted, however, and it's sold vrainly as fresh fruit in California 

 markets . 



The apple orchards I've seen here are planted very close together by our stand- 

 ards, and are kept quite low, A planting distance of thirty by twenty-eight feet 

 seem to be quite common in the YiTatsonville section. The growers use caterpillar 

 tractors and very lavr air blast sprayers which allow them to snake their way be- 

 tween the rows. Fortunately, for them, scab is usually no problem, and they have 

 no red-banded leaf roller or apple maggot to contend vdth. However, mildew and 

 mites are real problems, but even so, their spray schedule is much siinpler than ours. 



— -F, W, SouthvYick 

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