Orchard development costs. Our data for oi chard develop- 

 ment costs are limited to three growing seasons (Table 2). 

 Spray costs were the largest single cash item in the second 

 and third development years. The two major components 

 of costs in growmg a crop will become labor and spray (in- 

 cluding dust materials) as the orchards increase in age. Train- 

 ing and pruning will require the most labor of any job in 

 growing apples, thus the interest in compact trees which, 

 among their other attributes, require less pruning time than 

 larger trees. 



The cost of doing business is increasing annually. Assum- 

 ing an annual inflation rate of 7%, projected costs to remove 

 an existing orchard in 1976, 1977, 1978 or 1979, to replant 

 and manage for the first four growing seasons are shown in 

 Table 3. The figures show, for example, that it would cost 

 S2826/A to remove an existing orchard in 1977, establish a 

 new planting with 200 trees/A and manage them through 

 1980. A four year delay (1976 to 1979) can inciease the 

 per acre cost by approximately S1000 in plantings of 400 

 to 500 trees/A. In view of these high investment costs, suc- 

 cess 'n apple production will be very dependent upon: 

 (1) using the best information available in the selection of 

 orchard site, cultivars, rootstocks, and spacings; (2) obtain- 

 ing early yields for a quicker return on the investment; and 

 (3) high annual yields of high quality fruit per acre and per 

 man hour. 



Yields. Trees on M.9, M.26 or interstem trees with M.9 as 

 the intermediate stem piece produced a few fruit in third 

 growing season but not enough to warrant harvest in the 

 orchards understudy (Table 4). By the fifth growing season, 

 crop returns from a high density planting on M.9 probably 

 surpassed production costs (Table 5). Standard-type trees on 

 M.7 or MM 106 failed to produce sufficient apples to warrant 

 their harvest until the fifth or sixth growmg season. 



Our observations and the limited data in Table 5 show that 

 Delicious are generally slower coming into production than 

 Mcintosh but planting spur-types and/or the use of MM 106 

 rootstock may induce earlier bearing. 



The productivity of cultivars on M.7 increases rapidly and 

 by the eighth year cultivars on this rootstock are capable of 

 producing more than 500 bushels per acre (Table 6). In spite 

 of the greater tree number of Golden Delicious per acre in 

 comparison to Mcintosh and Delicious, the yields were rela- 

 tively similar. 



The authors believe that the Mcintosh yields could be 

 considered average for a commercial orchard but the yields 

 of the Delicious above average. Furthermore, at the spacings 

 indicated in Table 6, the tiees may have reached their maxi- 

 mum bearing potential. 



Unfortunately, data as presented in Table 6 are not avail- 

 able in Massachusettsfoicultivar performance on other root- 

 stocks. Data from other areas indicate that high density 

 plantings will produce higher, earlier yields and greater cum- 

 ulative yields than the low or medium density plantings in 

 Table 6. 



Cost of producing and harvesting apples. Data for cost of 

 producing and harvesting apples in Eastern New York State 

 in 1973 through 1975 are shown in Table 7. Costs and yields 

 in Massachusetts would be relatively similar. 



The data are based on a survey in six orchards in which 

 the growing costs were divided into five categories— orchard 

 overhead, management, labor, equipment, and materials. 

 Orchard overhead includes real estate taxes, an interest or 

 return on investment charge on land in bearing orchards and 

 buildings used in growing, and rental of land and buildings 

 not owned. Where buildings also were used for other pur- 

 poses, an allocation was made. The interest charge (5% in 

 1973, IViX in 1974 and 1975), which is a non-cash expense 

 on the proportion of the land and buildings not mortgaged, 

 represents a return on the investment. 



Management costs include owner and/or manager's sal- 

 ary, accounting, secretarial and office expense. The owner 

 was paid out of the farm business for tasks including among 

 others, deciding when and what to spray, buying equipment, 

 attending meetings, and overseeing other workers. 



Labor includes the expense for pruning, spraying, mow- 



Table 4. Production in 1975 on several cultivars on different rootstocks in trial plantings 

 in grower orchards in Massachusetts. Trees planted in 1973. 



Cultivar 



Rootstock 



Spacing 

 (feet) 



lb. /tree 



Yield 



Bu./A 



Mcintosh 



Idared 



Tydeman 



MacSpur 



Jerseymac 



Empire 



Mcintosh 



Macoun 



Spartan 



Empire 



M.9 



M.9 



M.9 



M.26 



M.26 



M.26 



M.9/MM 106 



M.9/MM 106 



M.9/MM 106 



M.9/Alnarp2 



8x 14 

 8x 12 

 8x12 

 14 x 18 

 14x 18 

 14 X 18 

 12x 18 

 14x20 

 14 X 18 

 14x 18 



4 

 2 

 2 

 3 

 5 

 2 

 2 

 2 

 2 

 3 



37 



24 



24 



12 



22 



7 



10 



7 



7 



14 



