Table 2. Yield per acre from Rogers Mcintosh trees and the percent of fruit making the U. S. Extra 

 Fancy grade in 1987 from Rogers Mcintosh and Macspur trees planted m 1979. 



•Means within a column are significantly different if not followed by the same letter. 



largest, reaching nearly 15 ft in height, and trees 

 on M!9 were the smallest, not reaching 9 ft. The 

 1987 tree spreads were used to calculate tree 

 densities and spacings (Table 1) so that potential 

 yields per acre could be estimated. Please note 

 that these densities represent optimal spacings for 

 this planting site, and those used by growers 

 should be adjusted as to cultivar, site, and soil 

 conditions. 



Table 2 shows yields from years 4 through 9. 

 Each year the trees on M.9 produced more fruit 

 than those on M.7A or M.26. Additionally, in 

 later years and on a cumulative basis trees 

 trained to trellises yielded more than those 

 trained to individual posts. This observation is 

 likely related to a higher fruiting surface per 

 acre because of the support given to limbs by the 

 trellis. Also in Table 2 are reported the percent 

 of fruit making the U. S. Extra Fancy grade in 

 1987. These percentages are particularly low 

 because harvest occurred prior to optimum 

 coloring (September 8). Trees on M.9, both 

 posted and trellised, and M.26 had similar 

 percentages but all had significantly more Extra 

 Fancy fruit than those on M.7A. These smaller 

 trees were more open and allowed more light 

 penetration and coloring than did the more 

 vigorous trees on M.7A. 



Higher yields and better potential packout 

 suggest that there are significant advantages to 

 planting trees that have been budded to M.9. 

 However, this information is not adequate to 

 recommend M.9 over the other rootstocks, since 

 the costs of producing apples on fully dwarfed 



trees exceeds those of growing larger trees. 

 Therefore, it is necessary to look more closely 

 at the costs of production for trees on these 

 rootstocks and compare that information with 

 the potential monetary returns. 



Table 3. Estimated per-acre establishment costs 

 of a Mcintosh orchard on M.7, M.26, and M.9 

 rootstocks. 



*Includes cost of supplies, labor, and equipment. 



Cost data presented in this article are 

 estimates based on information from several 

 sources, including observations at the 

 Horticultural Research Center and published data 

 from Cummins and Norton (1), Gerling (3, 4), 

 Hanlon et al. (5), Kimball and Autio (6), and 

 Norton (7). Plantings of trees on M.9 cost 

 significantly more to establish than plantings on 



