21 



Eighty-five responses were received, representing 5^3^ acres of apple 

 production (68^ of the Massachusetts apple acreage). Table 1 shows the num- 

 bers of acres of trees fitting into the various categories. it is important 



Table 1. 1985 Alar^-use survey results. 



Catagory 



Acreage 



Percentage 



Total acreage of apples 



Mc 1 ntosh 



Bearing trees 

 Mc 1 ntosh 

 Other cul t i vars 



Alar^^-treated 

 Mc I ntosh 

 Other cultivars 



5^31 



3^471 



hhhO 

 2877 

 1563 



3157 



2376 



781 



68? of Massachusetts total 



(>h% of survey 



82? of survey 



65? of bearing, 53? of survey 



35? of bearing, 29? of survey 



71? of bearing, 58? of survey 



83? of bearing Mcintosh 



50? of other bearing cultivars 



to note that 6^4? of our total acreage is in Mcintosh, and 53? of all the 

 trees in Massachusetts are bear i ng Mc I ntosh , Eighty-three percent oF all 

 bearing Mcintosh trees received Alar^ in 1985, representing 75? of the total 

 Alar"^ use in Massachusetts. With that in mind the answers to the last 

 question were not at all surprising. 



Most people stated that large quantities of fruit would be lost to 

 drop, and there would be an overall loss of fruit quality without the use of 

 Alar". However, in addition many growers felt that the loss of Alar- would 

 severely jeopardize their business, and several suggested that they would go 

 out of business altogether if they could not use Alar". 



The use of Alar" in Massachusetts obviously is extensive, and if Alar" 

 was not available many changes would have to occur in the way that we grow 

 apples. These changes include alterations in cultivars, cultural practices, 

 and storage conditions. Later Fru i t Notes articles will discuss some of 

 the practices which may partly replace the use of Alar". 



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