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SU^ttlARY OF APPLE GROWING QUESTIONNAIRE 



William J. Lord 

 Department o£ Plant and Soil Sciences 



We frequently are asked questions by pomologists and fruit 

 growers from other areas about apple growing practices in Massa- 

 chusetts. In most instances we think we know what growers are 

 doing but, this may not be true. Thus, we asked growers this 

 past January to complete a short questionnaire. We were pleased 

 that 55% of the apple grower members of the Massachusetts Fruit 

 Growers' Association answered the questionnaire and wish to share 

 the results with our readers. We have listed the questions below 

 and under each have summarized the response to the question and 

 added some comments of our own. 



1. What do you consider the ideal height of apple trees on M7a or 

 MM106? 



The tree height considered "ideal" by growers averaged 12,4 

 feet with 68% of the answers falling between 10 to 14.8 feet. 



At our Horticultural Research Center in Belchertown, average 

 height of mature Delicious trees on M7 is 11.5 feet in one 

 block and 13 feet in another, although we believe that spur- 

 type trees of the same cultivar on this rootstock could be 

 easily maintained at 9 feet (height of central leaders) . In 

 contrast, tree height of 9 feet is too low for the natural 

 vigor of non-spur Delicious on MM106 at our Research Center 

 and watersprouts have been troublesome. However, we are main- 

 taining Idared and Spartan trees on M.7 at 8.2 feet and 9 feet, 

 respectively, without difficulty. 



2. Do you use chemical thinners (yes or no)? If the answer is yes, 



which chemical thinner do you use on Mcintosh ', 



on Delicious ? 



Ninety-six percent of the growers stated that they use a chemical 

 thinner on Mcintosh. Of those using a chemical thinner: 54% used 

 carbaryl (Sevin) ; 15% used naphthaleneacetamide (NAAm) ; 13% used 

 naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) ; and 18% used carbaryl and/or NAAm, 

 carbaryl and/or NAA, or NAAm or NAA. 



It is obvious that the growers prefer carbaryl for thinning 

 Mcintosh trees, possibly because of convenience (Delicious and 

 Mcintosh are usually in the same block of trees and carbaryl is 

 the only thinner suggested for Delicious) or because of less 

 risk of overthinning than when using an application of NAAm or 

 NAA. Nevertheless, NAAm and NAA do have some direct flower- 

 promoting capabilities, an attribute not shared by carbaryl, and 

 will thin later in the season than carbaryl. 



