Your Classic Apple Orchard

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Late-ripening apples tend to store the longest, up to six months under cool conditions. Several late ripeners, in fact—such as Arkansas Black, Golden Russet and Melrose—aren't really as good to eat when harvested; they must "mellow" in storage for a month or two in order to develop their fullest flavor and sweetness. When choosing your late-ripening apples, check the length of growing season they need, and make sure your area provides an average of at least that many frost-free days.

Time your apple harvests to suit your needs. If you don't want a deluge of fruit at any one time, choose varieties with ripening dates well-spaced over the season. Some varieties—those called dessert apples—are best eaten fresh, while others are better for cooking or baking. But since' many are great both ways, I'd choose mostly all-purpose varieties. In making cider, mix three or four of the best apples for this purpose; blending sweet and tart varieties will result in the most full-bodied flavor.

If you market apples, customers are sure to come in with requests for types they know. Investigate the ones they suggest, and plant some if they can be grown successfully in your area. If customers ask for disease-susceptible commercial varieties just because they know their names, let them sample some of the ones you've chosen. When I worked on a fruit and vegetable farm in New Jersey and customers came to the roadside market looking for Delicious or Rome apples, we'd let them taste the Northern Spy. Usually they'd agree that the Spy was much tastier, and buy a basket of that instead.

ROOTSTOCKS AND INTERSTEMS

Rootstocks, like varieties, must be chosen carefully to suit your needs and conditions. The rootstock is essentially the bottom half of the tree—the root system and trunk upon which the apple variety is grafted. It largely determines the tree's size at maturity. Varieties grafted onto seedling rootstocks (usually grown from seeds discarded by canneries grow into standard-size apple trees, 25 to 30 feet tall. Dwarf or semidwarf trees result from grafting a variety onto a dwarfing rootstock—vegetatively produced by layering or cutting—that restricts the growth of the tree's top. Many different apple rootstocks are used by nurseries, each with its own adaptation, pest resistance or susceptibility, and degree of dwarfing.

Fully dwarf trees are generally best for both home and commercial orchards. These trees grow from seven to 10 feet tall and are easiest to harvest, prune and spray. They produce much higher yields per acre than larger trees, and allow you to grow nine different trees—a different variety each, if you like—in the space that one full-size apple tree would take up.

Some nurseries construct apple trees in three, rather than two, parts, and these are the trees I generally prefer. A six- to 12-inch-long stem piece called an "interstem," grafted between the rootstock and the variety, dwarfs the tree above, while the rootstock below is chosen for good anchorage and resistance to drought, diseases and pests.

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