APPLES 



175 



heading, and therefore the first year in 

 pruning would cut off the top not more 

 than one foot above the surface of the 

 ground. In fact, we have thought six 

 inches is better than one foot, but many 

 regard this an extreme. Our reasons for 

 low heading were discovered by accident. 

 Rabbits having girdled several trees dur- 

 ing the winter, the owner of the orchard 

 had to decide between cutting off the 

 tops of the trees near the ground or 

 rooting them up altogether. These trees 

 are now 18 years old. They are the 

 healthiest, largest, most prolific bearers 

 in the orchard. This is not confined to 

 one variety, but is true of all the varieties 

 in this orchard. We have observed other 

 orchards where similar conditions pre- 

 vailed, and in every case we have been 

 confirmed in the conclusion that low 

 heading is decidedly preferable. 



Gb.\>-vii,le Lowther 



DISTANCES TO PLANT 



One of the most common mistakes made 

 by orchardists is that of planting too 

 many trees to the acre. "Short lived 

 trees" is a very general complaint, and 

 overcrowding is one of the direct causes 

 of It 



Moisttire 



A number of important factors should 

 be considered in determining the num- 

 ber of trees per acre. Moisture plays 

 an important part in plant growth. 

 Most varieties of apples are from 85 to 

 90 per cent water. This fact has an im- 

 portant bearing especially for semi-arid 

 regions. When we recall that each inch 

 of rainfall means about 120 tons of water 

 per acre the amount is significant, par- 

 ticularly in a country where the annual 

 rainfall is approaching a minimum sup- 

 ply for the maintenance of tree growth. 

 It is therefore evident that with a given 

 annual rainfall per acre, the closer the 

 planting the less the water supply for 

 each tree. 



Distance and Yield 



Too close planting is one of the most 

 serious hindrances to the successful pro- 

 duction of high grade fruit. A large 

 share of the apple orchards, especially 



those set from 15 to 40 years ago, suffer 

 from this mistake, which deprives the 

 trees of air and sunlight, two of the 

 cheapest and most essential factors in 

 successful fruit growing. The writer has 

 seen many orchards in which the trees 

 were planted from 16 to 20 feet apart, 

 the branches interlacing, forming a com- 

 plete network over the whole orchard 

 area, thereby restricting sun and air ex- 

 posure to the top of the floor-like array 

 of branches. In other words, these trees 

 planted 20 feet apart simply had an area 

 of 400 square feet of exposure to sun- 

 light and air. If instead of four trees 

 with an area of 1,600 square feet ex- 

 posed to sun and air, but one tree grew 

 which did not meet its neighbors by 

 about two feet, this well developed tree 

 would have over twice the area exposd 

 to sun and air on top and side alike or 

 somewhere in the vicinity of 3,500 square 

 feet: and in addition from 20 to 25 per 

 cent of the soil would be open to the 

 sunlight. 



Investigations at the Xew York Sta- 

 tion * indicate that: 



Trees set 30x30 feet gave a four-year 

 average of 186 bushels per acre. 



Trees set 31x31 to 35x35 feet gave a 



four-year average of 222 bushels per 

 acre. 



Trees set 36x36 to 40x40 feet gave a 



four-year average of 229 bushels per 

 acre. 



Tarieties 



Varieties attaining the size of Northern 

 Spy, Rhode Island Greening and Baldwin 

 should be set from 35 to 40 feet apart 

 each way. Some growers are even set- 

 ting these varieties 40 by 50 feet apart. 

 Mcintosh. Fameuse and similar-sized 

 trees may be planted from 32 to 35 feet 

 apart. Yellow Transparent, Tetofsky and 

 other similar upright growers may be 

 planted somewhat closer. Distance-de- 

 termining factors other than that of va- 

 riety are the character of the soil, the 

 severity of the climate, and the closeness 

 of pruning. A strong soil will of course 



•New York iCornelU Station, Bulletin 226, 



p. Ml n 00,5 1. 



