This allows the oldest orchard block never to exceed 24 years 

 of age. 



Planting Trees in an Existing Orchard 



Growers frequently desire to renovate existing orchards to 

 avoid loss of production. The practice of planting among 

 existing trees is not recommended. It is difficult to plant the 

 compact trees at the desired spacing in an established orchard 

 without encountering tree shading and/or crowding, and 

 difficulties in performing necessary cultural practices. Fur- 

 thermore, past experience has shown that the old trees are 

 seldom removed before they seriously crowd and interfere 

 with the development of the young filler trees. 



The removal of an entire block of trees which permits 

 site preparation and establishment of desired planting dis- 

 tances is the preferred practice but the removal of several 

 rows of existing trees is a suitable compromise, if the per- 

 formance of the existing trees has been less than satisfactory, 

 the soil, among other things, should be examined foi the 

 presence of nematodes. Contact your County Extension 

 Service for information on soil sampling and soil preparation 

 procedures. 



Choosing Orchard Sites 



The first consideration in choosing an orchard site is the 

 selection of land with sufficient elevation to permit cold au- 

 to settle into the lower levels surrounding the orchard Cold 

 air is heavier than warm and tends to settle into the low 

 spots. On a cold, still night, the temperature in valleys and 

 low areas surrounded by higher land may be 5° to 10° colder 

 than the more elevated locations. These temperature differ- 



ences can mean the difference between a fruit crop and a 

 complete crop failure. Too little attention to the selection 

 of sites with sufficient elevation to avoid spring frosts and 

 extreme winter temperatures can only result in loss of crops 

 and eventual abandonment of the orchard. Sites which are 

 surrounded by dense woods or other obstructions which 

 impede the free movement of cold air out of the orchard 

 should be avoided unless a path can be cleared which will 

 allow the cold air to move to lower levels. 



The direction of the slope for an orchard site is relatively 

 unimportant. Southern and eastern slopes are a little better 

 exposed to light, somewhat warmer and earlier, and have 

 more protection from wind; northern and western slopes are 

 slightly colder, later and subject to wind. However, northern 

 and western slopes with good elevation are to be preferred 

 to southern and eastern slopes with poor elevation. 



Steep slopes of more than 15 peicent should be avoided 

 wherever possible as the danger of soil erosion is increased. 

 It is also more difficult to move sprayers and other equipment 

 through orchards on steep slopes. 



Sites on tops of high ridges are unsatisfactory because of 

 high winds which may affect tree shape, blow trees over, in- 

 jure fruit and make spraying difficult. Slopes along the side 

 of the ridges are often more satisfactory than the tops. 



Sites which are extremely rough and covered with large 

 stones will greatly increase the difficulty and expense of 

 operation. Small areas of this nature adjacent to an existing 

 orchard which can be smoothed and cleared of stones by 

 heavy machinery without too much expense may be a sound 

 investment. However, the cost of clearing rough, stoney land 

 for a large extensive orchard is very likely to be prohibitive. 



We strongly urge the novice fruit grower to contact the 



Item 



Table 7. The cost of producing and harvesting apples in N.Y, State.^'^ 



1973 1974 



1975 



Orchard overhead 



Management 



Labor 



Equipment 



Materials 



S 79.60/A 

 39.32/A 

 97.77/A 

 69.91 /A 

 90.26/A 



S 94.31 /A 

 50.68/A 



115.36/A 

 96.98/A 



109.28/A 



S149.18/A 



58.32/A 



132,56/A 



138.60/A 



134.26/A 



Total cost/A 



S376.86 



$466.61 



8612.92 



Yield/A-bu. 

 Cost/bushel 

 Harvesting costs/bu. 



314 



31.20 



0.74 



344 



$1.36 



0.84 



364 



SI. 68 



0.84 



Combined growing and harvesting costs 



31.94 



S2.20 



32.52 



Forshey, C.G. and R. Lawrence. 1975. The cost of producing and harvesting apples in eastern New York in 1974. Proc. New 

 York State Hort. Soc. 120: 132-134. 



^Lawrence, R.T. 1976. A survey of the cost of growing and harvesting apples in eastern New York in 1975. Proc. New York 

 State Hort. Soc. 121 ; 78-83. 



