of established perennial weeds is obtained. Therefore, deep-rooted 

 perennials should be eliminated from the planting before using 

 either diuron or simazine, or else you must depend on the gradual 

 elimination of these weeds by annual applications of these herbi- 

 cides . 



*************** 



GROWING YOUNG APPLE TREES 



William J . Lord 

 Department of Plant and Soil Sciences 



The February, 1968, New York State Horticultural Society News 

 Letter contained a supplement with two articles by R.L. Norton, 

 Fruit Agent in Monroe and Orleans Counties on "Growing Young Apple 

 Trees Rapidly" and "Pruning Young Trees for the Future." Of par- 

 ticular interest were the following statements pertaining to growth 

 of trees on various roots tock/sc i on combinations at 5 locations in 

 Monroe County, New York. 



"I expect and get an average of 8 to 10 feet of accumulative 

 terminal growth on apples the f irst year the trees are set in the 

 orchard on moderate growing varieties. On the stronger growing 

 varieties such as Mutsu, Greening and Wayne, the average total ter- 

 minal growth is 10 to 12 feet. Trunk growth on Mcintosh, for exam- 

 ple, on MM 106, has an average measurement of 11 3/4 inches in the 

 fourth growing season; this reflected an average annual growth of 

 2.8 inches. This typical kind of growth has been obtained each 

 year on hundreds of trees since 1962, without any supplementary 

 watering during the growing season. However, this kind of growth 

 will not be realized on poorly drained soils. Furthermore, my 

 test orchards are located in Western New York, varying from 2 to 20 

 miles from the shores of Lake Ontario. Possibly other areas have 

 weather, soil or other environmental restrictions which would pro- 

 hibit such growth response." 



The writer is in full agreement with Norton in that we should 

 anc can obtain 10 or more feet of total growth on newly set trees 

 under favorable conditions. In the February, 1963, issue of Frui t 

 Notes , the writer presented the following data (Table 1) from 

 growth measurements made on 15 two-year old Mcintosh and 15 one-year 

 old Red Delicious trees on EM VII planted in a grower orchard in 

 1962. It was mentioned that growth like that shown in the table 

 might well constitute a goal for other Massachusetts growers. 



A good orchard soil, thorough preparation of the site, opti-^ 

 mum nutrition level and freedom from weed competition are essential 

 in order to obtain growth equivalent to that cited by 



the writer 



In 



Norton and 

 the^^orchard where the author obtained the growth 



