NEW YORK STATE FRUIT INDUSTRY REVISITED 



William J. Lord 

 Department of Plant and Soil Sciences 



During March, 1963, 3 Massachusetts apple growers and the 

 writer visited orchards and packing sheds in the Hudson Valley and 

 Lake Champlain area of New York in search of ideas in fruit grow- 

 ing. In April, 1968, the same areas and many of the same orchards 

 and packing sheds were revisited. The intervening 5 years have 

 produced numerous changes, and those of particular interest are 

 the mechanical hedging and topping of apple trees, use of self- 

 unloading bulk bin trailers, hand-packing of apples from bulk bins, 

 and grower-fabricated bulk bin dumners. Comments on these devel- 

 opments are as follows. 



Meahaniaal hedging and topping: To reduce or restrict tree size 

 and to reduce cost of pruning, growers are hedging and topping 

 trees mechanically. Crist Brothers, Walden and Leonard Clark, Mil- 

 ton, use a sickle-bar mower while Forrence Brothers, Peru, use a 

 commercial hedger and topper. These growers were in agreement 

 that mechanical pruning is best suited to younger blocks as a meth- 

 od of restricting spread and height once the desired tree size has 

 been obtained. Lowering tall trees drastically by topping was con- 

 sidered undesirable, particularly in the Peru area where winter in- 

 jury is a problem of much concern. 



Detailed cuts with hand tools and/or pneumatic pruners are 

 required to complete the pruning operation. Generally in the year 

 of hedging and/or topping, the follow-up cuts are confined to 1- 

 and 2-year wood. Some shoots and water-sprouts not previously cut 

 by the hedger or topper are headed back, but few are actually re- 

 moved. Heading back of shoots and watersprouts forces lateral 

 growth and increases the number of growing points. The greater the 

 number of growing points, the easier it is to restrict tree size. 



The introduction of mechanical pruning might well have intro- 

 duced a new term pruning systems since it is apparent that a 



definite pruning cycle involving different procedures may develop. 

 For example, the first year trees may be hedged along the rows, 

 the second year across the rows and the third year all the trees 

 may be topped. Each year follow-up pruning cuts are made. The 

 follow-up pruning may consist of stubbing and thinning cuts for 2 

 years and saw cuts the third year. 



Where mechanical pruning was observed, the trees had at least 

 a third more scaffold limbs than is common in Massachusetts. Since 

 some Massachusetts growers are attempting to restrict tree size by 

 making a few relatively large cuts, it would be of interest to com- 

 pare the 2 pruning methods. Also, it is possible that apple canker 

 may be increased due to the number of stubs left by mechanical prun- 

 ing . 



