From the editors: 



The following is the first in a series of reprinted articles from Fruit 

 Notes of 50 years ago. This discussion by Professor Van Meter was first 

 published in the February, 1939 issue. 



Planting Orchards in Massachusetts 



R. A. Van Meter 



Department of Pomology, University of Massachusetts 



The average rainfall in Massachusetts is about 43 

 inches. This is more than the impoilant competing 

 apple regions get. We get our heaviest precipitation in 

 July and August when we need it most. Our climate 

 gives a finish to apples that has long been famous, and 

 its very severity holds insects like codling moth in 

 check to such an extent that we have less trouble with 

 them than any important competing section. 



In the past 10 years Virginia has averaged about 

 45% of a crop each year. New York has averaged 53%, 

 New England 63%, and the Northwest about 70%. The 

 Northwest stands highest in average % of a crop and 

 New England comes next. The dependable cropping of 

 New England orchards is a real advantage. We are 

 rapidly becoming a one-variety section and that is a 

 disadvantage. Mcintosh is the most popular apple on 

 the market and we would not trade it for any or all the 

 others grown elsewhere, but we do need a good, high 

 quality variety to grow with it. Mcintosh probably is 

 the most difficult apple to handle that is grown any- 

 where and we still have much to learn about placing it 

 on the market in good condition. 



We have some excellent orchard sites and soils, 

 many of which are not now utilized for orcharding. 

 Recent studies of the relation of subsoils to root devel- 

 opment have added much to our knowledge of what 

 soils to select. 



Here in the Northeast we have a densely populated 

 area characterized by a high concentration of wealth. 

 This makes the best market on the continent. Its 

 nearness makes marketing costs veiy low and affords 



advantages that many sections can never offset. This is 

 all reflected in the average per bushel price received by 

 Massachusetts growers. Table 1 will make this clear. 



The decline in the per capita consumption of apples 

 is not necessarily a calamity for the apple grower. The 

 per capita consumption is arrived at by dividing the 

 total crop (150,000,000 bu.) by the population 

 (125,000,000) to get the average consumed by each 

 individual (1 1/5 bu.). This is lower than it was a few 

 years ago--not because people refuse to eat apples for 

 they eat all you grow, but because fewer apples are 

 produced. Why are fewer apples produced? Cold 

 winters have destroyed millions of apples trees; in- 

 creasing difficulties in controlling pests have driven 

 many thousands of small orchards out of business, and 

 commercial orchards have not been planted fast 

 enough to take up the slack. Prices have not been high 

 enough to encourage large-scale planting-that is 

 where the decline in consumption operates. 



16 



Fruit Notes, Spring, 1989 



