diate posts - all extending 7.5 feet out of the soil) and 

 no individual tree stakes were used. Trees were 

 headed at planting 2 inches below the bottom wire to 

 force adequate branching for the bottom wire. 



Establishment costs of the vertical trellis system 

 are given in Table 4. 



Conclusions 



The costs of establishing intensive systems are 

 high. It is estimated that a free standing system of 

 trees on M.7 spaced 16 x 23 feet would cost $749 per 



acre to establish. If each tree were individually 

 staked it would cost $1088 per acre, only 28% of the 

 cost of the cheapest of the systems described in this 

 trial (small central leader). This relationship should 

 not cause you to abandon your interest in intensive 

 systems. These intensive systems will begin produc- 

 ing earlier, will have higher yields, will have greater 

 packout, and will require lower harvest, pruning, 

 and spraying inputs than the larger trees on M.7. 

 These characteristics will likely make them more 

 profitable than the semi-dwarf systems using M.7 

 rootstocks. 



*sL» +L* *L» *sL» *L* 



0^% 0^% 0^% #^p% rp» 



The ideal slender spindle. 



From: Oberhofer, H. 1987. Developing the high density 

 orchard step by step. Compact Fruit Tree 20:66-69. 



Fruit Notes, Fall, 1990 



