98 



MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION. BULLETIN 228 



CHART 10. Percentage of all Bearing and all Non-bearing Trees in Orchards 

 of Different Sizes, 1925. 



PEacENT or 



TOTAL rJ 



NONBCAiJINQ im 

 SEARING CD 



UNDEP 200 200-500 



5IZL OF OCCHADD 



500-1000 1000-aooo 



IN BEACIN6 TBEL5 



OVER 2000 



ing trees. It is evident that the small orchard will be a very important 

 factor in the future market. 



Preference for the different varieties varies with the size of orchard. Tlie 

 large orchards have fewer varieties, carefully selected witii a view to balanced 

 farm organization and market demand. In general, tiie percentage of Mcin- 

 tosh increases with the size of orchard and the percentage of Baldwin de- 

 creases. Tlie large orchards average one-third Baldwin and over one-half 

 Mcintosh. There is a tendencj' for large growers to plant only Baldwin and 

 Mcintosh as permanent varieties, at the rate of two Mclntosli to one Baldwin. 

 Most of the bearing Wealthy and Wagener trees are in the large orchards as 

 fdlers, as are a hirge proportion of Duchess trees. 



Over two-thirds of the trees in small orciiards with many varieties are 

 Baldwin. The Mcintosh comprises about one-fourth of the average small 

 orchard, although there are many which contain none of this varietJ^ Most 

 of the liearing Gravenstein are also found in small orchards. The conclusion 

 may be drawn that future increases in Mcintosh production will come largely 

 from large orchards, while the greater part of the Baldwin crop will be pro- 

 duced on farms with relatively small orchards. 



Sources of Income 



Most Massachusetts apple growers do not depend solely upon fruit for 

 their income. Specialized fruit farms form only a small percentage of the 

 total number and raise less than 1-5 per cent of the crop. In many cases 

 fruit growing is a side-line and of secondary importance to the dairy herd. 

 In Middlesex County fruit furnishes 40 per cent of the grower's income; 

 dairying supplies 35 per cent; vegetables, 15 per cent; and poultry, 5 per 

 cent. The remainder comes from a variety of sources. It is significant that 



