Thus, only about 10 percent of the pear trees 

 in the valley are below bearing age. Approxi- 

 mately 70 percent of the valley's total produc- 

 tion of apples and pears is for export; the re- 

 maining 30 percent moves to domestic markets. 



TABLE 8. — Apples and pears: Trends of produc- 

 tion in Rio Negro Valley, 3-year averages, 

 1943-57 



Year 



Apples 



Pears 



194.3-4.5 



1946-48 



194.9-51 



1952-54 



1955-57 



yiLlion 

 boxes 

 2.9 

 2.9 

 5.6 

 8.2 

 8.2 



MiLLion 

 boxes 

 3.0 

 2. A 

 2.9 

 2.1 

 2.5 







Trees in most of the older apple and pear 

 orchards are set very close together (gen- 

 erally 20x20 feet), which makes orchard 

 work difficult and restricts the use of ma- 

 chinery. Growers are now aware of the draw- 

 backs inherent in such a system and trees in 

 the younger plantations are planted nnostly 

 30x30 feet. 



The apples and pears of the Rio Negro 

 Valley are of generally good quality and ap- 

 pearance and well graded. Known varieties 

 have typical varietal shape characteristics 

 and fruit is nornnally well colored. 



Plantations in the Rio Negro are relatively 

 snnall; individual holdings average about 30- 

 40 acres. This acreage will be divided gen- 

 erally between apples and pears, with apples 

 taking the majority of the space. On sonne 

 orchards, other fruits are grown but the 

 preponderance of the commercial holdings 

 growing and shipping for export are concen- 

 trating on apples and pears. Several farms 

 in the valley were polled for their holdings 

 and averages determined to develop the ap- 

 proximate holdings of "a typical fruit farm" 

 in the Rio Negro region; results of this work 

 are shown in table 9. 



Irrigation . --The Rio Negro irrigation sys- 

 tem consists of a large main canal running 

 along the north side of the valley with sec- 

 ondary feeder lines crossing the valley 

 throughout the cultivated area. Each planta- 

 tion is supplied by small canals, or ditches, 

 fed by these secondaries. 



Most plantations are laid out in squares, 

 with each plot equal to 1 hectare (2-1/2 

 acres). Irrigation ditches r\in along the bound- 

 aries. Water is generally applied to the trees 

 by flooding, but some plantations have fur- 

 rows to carry the water between the rows of 

 trees. 



Every irrigation ditch, or canal, has a 

 row of closely planted Lonnbardy poplar trees 



along each bank. Thus, every hectare is sur- 

 rounded by a tall windbreak. These poplar 

 trees serve two very important functions. 

 First, the windbreak is extremely important 

 because of the prevalence of high wintls in the 

 area. Secondly, and possibly as important, 

 the wood from these trees is used to make 

 boxes for apples and pears and provide a sup- 

 plementary source of income to the fruit pro- 

 ducer. 



TABLE 9.— Rio Negro Valley: Land utillzaUoii uii [.yplcal fruit fam 

 (chacra) 



Area devoted to — 



Hectares 



Acres 



Apples: 



i.5 

 1.5 

 1.5 

 1.0 

 1.0 

 0.5 



11 



i 

 i. 

 3 

 3 

 1 



Delicious 



Rome Beauty 



King David 



r.ranny .<Vn' +h 









10.0 



26 





Pears: 



Willians (Bartlett) 



2.5 



l.C 

 .5 

 .5 



6 

 3 

 1 



1 



Packham's TriuB5)h 



Beurre D'Anjou 



Others 





Total 



"i.S 



11 





9uildings, roads, irrigation 



nanpls, pt^ 



.5 



1 







15.0 



38 





Apples 



Average number 

 of trees per acre 

 80 

 112 



Average yield 

 in boxes per acre 

 590 

 350 



Pears 





Fertilization and spraying . --Good fertiliza- 

 tion and spraying methods are used throughout 

 the valley. 



Fertilization consists of a combination of 

 chemicals and green and aninnal manures. 

 Chemical fertilizers are applied at the average 

 rate of about 550-600 pounds per acre. Green 

 manure is generally a barley crop turned under 

 each year. 



brigadon canal with windbreak of Lombardy poplan. 



