Abstract
In 1981, four apple cultivars were established as a low trellis hedgerow on 11.9 or free-standing central leaders on 11.7 at the recommended or half the recommended spacing with the close planted trees either root pruned or hedged. The trellis had a higher trunk area (TCA)/ha (31%), yield/ha (41%) and tree efficiency (19%). `Lawspur Rome Beauty' had the highest TCA/ha, cumulative yield/ha and greatest tendency toward biennial bearing of the 4 cvs. `Smoothee Golden Delicious' trees in the central leader system were less efficient (kg/cm2) than in the trellis system. Hedging increased cumulative yield/ha compared to standard spaced trees with root pruned trees intermediate. Training trees to the trellis increased the density of both spurs and shoots and resulted in a higher leaf area index. Central leader trees of `Smoothee' and `Red Chief' had higher light transmission levels than the trellis, while the trellis trees had higher light levels with `Lawspur'. Return over total cost was negative for years 1-10 for all systems. Cumulative NPV for `Redchief' hedged on central leader equaled `Lawspur' at the standard spacing on trellis and exceeded all other combinations.
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