combination of cultural, biological, host-tree-resis- 

 tance, behavioral, and pesticidal practices used to 

 manage arthropod, disease, and vertebrate pests of 

 fruit yielded 94% undamaged fruit under conditions 

 of very strong pest pressure in the vicinity of the 

 orchard. The only pests not effectively controlled by 

 the practices employed were the diseases sooty 

 blotch and fly speck, which did not cause scarring of 

 the fruit. Their symptoms were removed after har- 

 vest by cleaning fruit with a damp cloth. 



The practices employed in the Conway orchard 

 may be used effectively in relatively small commer- 

 cial apple orchards (up to perhaps 3 acres or so in 

 size) in eastern North America if reasonably-priced 

 qualified labor is available. Total costs of production 

 compare very favorably with large commercial or- 

 chards. For large commercial orchards, however, 

 shortage of labor may dictate against the value of 



such practices as placing sticky red spheres on every 

 tree to control apple maggot flies and Scare-eye 

 balloons every 44 feet to deter flocking birds, picking 

 up dropped apples at weekly intervals to discourage 

 within-orchard buildup of insect pests, and placing 

 and removing mulch under every tree to suppress 

 weeds and mice. For such orchards, it would un- 

 doubtedly be more feasible to practice elements of 

 "second-stage" integrated pest management de- 

 scribed in Fruit Notes 55(l):4-9. 



References 



Castaldi, M., 1987. The cost of establishing and 

 operating a Mcintosh, Red Delicious, and Empire 

 orchard in the Hudson Valley of eastern New York , 

 Cornell Univ. Ext. Bull. XB007. 



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14 



Fruit Notes, Fall, 1990 



