Editing Cider apple (section)

== Orchard design ==

=== Traditional orchard design ===
[[File:AppleOrchard.jpg|thumb|Old growth apple orchard in Ottawa, Canada]]The end of the 1950s saw a huge turn in cider apple [[orchard]] design, where before<ref name=":05">{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/apr/24/traditional-orchards-biodiversity|title=Orchards may vanish by the end of the century, conservationists warn|last=Morris|first=Steven|date=2009-04-23|website=The Guardian|language=en|access-date=2018-04-30}}</ref> traditional styles of orchard had been maintained for centuries. Traditional orchards are now uncommon, though they can still be found in places like [[Spain]] where most growers have maintained traditional systems.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last1=Vysini|first1=Eleni|last2=Dunwell|first2=Jim|last3=Froud-Williams|first3=Bob|last4=Hadley|first4=Paul|last5=Hatcher|first5=Paul|last6=Ordidge|first6=Matthew|last7=Shaw|first7=Michael|last8=Battey|first8=Nick|date=September 2011|title=Sustainable Apple Production|url=http://www.archiveofciderpomology.co.uk/archivereports/sustainableciderappleproduction7.2.4.pdf|journal=Archive of Cider Pomology|volume=7/2/4|pages=1–145|via=University of Reading}}</ref> Traditional orchards were designed with large spacing between individual large trees;(6–12 meters tall and spaced about 7.6–9 meters apart<ref name=":3" />) typically, less than 150 trees per hectare.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.buildingconservation.com/articles/traditional-orchards/traditional-orchards.htm|title=The Traditional British Orchard|website=www.buildingconservation.com|access-date=2018-04-30}}</ref> Trees within an orchard were more variable in age; individual trees would be grown until they died and a new tree would be planted in its place.<ref name=":12">{{Cite journal|last1=Elings|first1=Jelger|last2=Kirimbo|first2=Godlove|last3=Li|first3=Xuqing|last4=Mandal|first4=Palash|last5=Van Schelt|first5=Tim|last6=Villa|first6=Jorge|date=2017|title=Enhancing biodiversity in traditional fruit orchards|url=http://www.ijsselboomgaarden.nl/SiteFiles/1/files/Final%20Report%20Advice%20biodiversity%202017_docx.pdf|journal=Red Apple: Ecological Consultancy Bureau|pages=1–60|archive-date=2022-03-11|access-date=2018-05-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220311211717/http://www.ijsselboomgaarden.nl/SiteFiles/1/files/Final%20Report%20Advice%20biodiversity%202017_docx.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> Older trees in traditional orchards can grow gnarled and [[Tree hollow|hollowed]] for the tree's entire lifespan.<ref name=":05" /> The large (7.6 meter) spherical-shaped canopies of traditional methods differ from various planting systems that use conic, flat planar or v-shaped styles.<ref name=":3" />[[File:Orchard3.jpg|thumb|Traditional apple orchard in Eastwood, Essex]] Traditional orchards were often [[Intercropping|intercropped]]: it was particularly common to use a [[Silvopasture|silvopastoral]] system that combined [[fruit tree]]s and [[pasture]].<ref name=":3" /> The natural grasses forming the orchard's [[undergrowth]] were often [[Grazing|grazed]] by sheep or cows:<ref name=":12" /> the English "grass orchard" was particularly associated with cider producing districts.<ref name=hoare212>Hoare, A. (1928) ''The English Grass Orchard and the Principles of Fruit Growing'', Benn, p.212</ref> Management techniques did not use [[fertiliser]] or chemicals, other than the natural fertilisation from the dung of grazing cattle, and generally required less training than modern, high-density systems.<ref name=":22">{{Cite web|url=https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/high-density-apple-orchard-management|title=High Density Apple Orchard Management {{!}} NC State Extension Publications|website=content.ces.ncsu.edu|language=en-US|access-date=2018-04-30}}</ref> Budding of scions took place high up in the tree, typically using vigorous rootstocks or seedlings.<ref name=":3" /> Traditional orchards have been found to produce apples with lower nitrogen content and higher polyphenolic levels.<ref name=":3" />

In recent years, there has been a decline in the numbers of traditional cider orchards and a corresponding loss of orchard design knowledge between generations of apple growers.<ref name=":05" /> Traditional orchards have, for example decreased by about 20% since 1994 in parts of Germany.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Schmalzl|first=Johannes|date=July 2014|title=Protection of Wild Birds in Traditional Orchards of the Central Swabian Alb Foothills and Central Valley of the River Rems|url=http://www.life-vogelschutz-streuobst.de/images/stories/abschlussbroschre_englisch_web.pdf|journal=Regierungsprasidium Stuttgart|pages=1–19}}</ref> The decline is partly attributed to the high maintenance demands of large trees and the physical limitations for apple pickers,<ref name=":22" /> the low yield (10-12 tons per hectare,<ref name=":3" />) the slow cropping of trees (15 years compared to the average 8 years of high-density orchards,<ref name=":3" />) and [[Cider in the United States|historical changes]] in regional alcohol preferences. During the 1950s, [[France]] subsidised growers who converted to high-density orchards. By the 1990s, most of France no longer used traditional orchard styles.<ref name=":3" /> By the 1970s, traditional style orchards were only used for making 25% of the [[cider in the United Kingdom]].<ref name=":3" />

=== Bush orchards ===

[[File:Apple_orchard_near_Cowleigh_-_geograph.org.uk_-_796019.jpg|thumb|A bush orchard near Cowleigh, United Kingdom.]]In response to the rising demand for cider apples in the United Kingdom in the 1950s, the [[Long Ashton Research Station]] developed the bush orchard system commonly used in the UK today. Cider apple varieties are grafted onto semi-dwarfing [[rootstock]]s and reach a maximum height of 15 to 20 feet (4.5 to 6 m).<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=A Somerset Pomona: The Cider Apples of Somerset|last=Copas|first=Liz|publisher=Dovecote Press Ltd.|year=2001|location=Stanbridge, Wimborne, Dorset UK.}}</ref> Trees are planted at a density of approximately 750 per hectare, with trees spaced 2 – 3 m (6.5–10&nbsp;ft) apart in rows 5.5&nbsp;m (18&nbsp;ft) wide.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=Cider and Perry Production: A Foundation|last=Mitchell|first=Peter|publisher=The Cider and Perry Academy|year=2016|location=Gloucestershire, UK}}</ref> Although more densely planted than a traditional orchard, rows are still wide enough for tractors, harvesters, and other machinery to access the rows. Unlike a high density orchard, trees are free standing and are not supported by a trellis. Bush orchards can yield 2-3 times as much as a traditional orchard,<ref name=":1" /> up to 35-50 tons per hectare.<ref name=":2" /> The bush orchard style became especially popular in the 1970s after the [[H. P. Bulmer|H.P. Bulmer]] and [[Taunton Cider Company|Taunton Cider]] companies established Incentive Planting Schemes, which rewarded farmers for planting bush orchards of cider apple varieties. Today, approximately two thirds of cider apples in the United Kingdom are grown in bush orchards.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Vysini|first1=E|last2=Dunwell|first2=B|date=2011|title=Sustainable Cider Apple production|url=http://www.archiveofciderpomology.co.uk/ArchiveReports/SustainableCiderAppleProduction7.2.4.pdf|journal=University of Reading, School of Biological Sciences}}</ref>

=== High density orchards ===
[[File:Intensive_apple_orchard.jpg|thumb|Apple trees in a modern high-density orchard.]]High density planting became popular in the 1960s and 1970s, and is a common method of growing cider apples outside of the United Kingdom.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ishs.org/ishs-article/114_42|title=High density planting in French orchards: Developments and current achievements|last=Hugard|first=J.|date=1980|access-date=2018-04-28}}</ref> The average high density orchard contains about 1,000 trees per acre, although some orchards in Europe and the [[Pacific Northwest]] may contain up to 9,000 trees per acre.<ref name=":03">{{Cite web|url=https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/high-density-apple-orchard-management|title=High Density Apple Orchard Management {{!}} NC State Extension Publications|website=content.ces.ncsu.edu|language=en-US|access-date=2018-04-28}}</ref> Trees in high density orchards are grafted onto a precocious dwarfing [[rootstock]] that keeps the tree small and encourages early fruit production, with trees often bearing within two to three years of planting. This allows growers to bring new varieties of apple to market more quickly than they could with traditional, more widely spaced orchard designs that are slower to mature. Because trees grown on a dwarfing rootstock are small and thin, they must be supported by a [[Trellis (architecture)|trellis]] system. Rows are spaced depending on the height of the mature tree, usually half the tree height plus three feet (approximately 1m).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://extension.psu.edu/beginning-grower-planning-and-planting-an-orchard|title=Beginning Grower: Planning and Planting an Orchard|website=extension.psu.edu|language=en|access-date=2018-04-28}}</ref> High density orchards are more labor efficient than traditional orchards, as workers do not need to climb ladders during maintenance or harvest<ref name=":03" /> [[Pesticide]] application is also more efficient, as chemicals can be applied by over-the-row sprayers, fixed in-canopy systems,<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Agnello|first1=A.|last2=Landers|first2=A.|title=Progress in the development of an in-canopy fixed spraying system for high-density orchards|url=http://www.hort.cornell.edu/expo/proceedings/2013/Drosophila/Drosophila%20Agnello%20Fixed%20Spraying%20System.pdf|journal=Cornell University}}</ref> or other devices that reduce pesticide waste.

=== Tree types and planting systems ===
With the move to higher density plantings, different tree types and planting systems have been developed, and are used around the world. These systems include:

'''Central leader''' trees are commonly grown in a conical shape, with a central vertical shoot (the central leader), and horizontal larger branches at the bottom decreasing to smaller branches near the top. Central leader trees grown with standard or semi dwarf rootstocks are large and free standing, unlike modern high density plantings.<ref name=":04">Baugher, T. A. 2003. Training Systems, p349-355. In: Baugher, T. A., & Singha, S. Concise encyclopedia of temperate tree fruit. New York: Food Products Press</ref> The central leader system has been adjusted in recent years to suit the requirements of modern orchard designs and high density plantings.

An example of this is '''slender spindle'''. While there are different forms, slender spindle trees have the same tapered design. Top branches are regularly renewed by pruning, or weakened by bending. A less vigorous rootstock is used to limit growth, creating a smaller tree, usually individually staked for support of heavy cropping.<ref name=":04" />

'''Solaxe and vertical axis''' systems are similar to both central leader and slender spindle, and has been used as a transition from low density plantings to high density plantings. Tree size is determined by rootstock, ranging from semi dwarf to fully dwarf. The trees require a form of support. These systems aim to create an equilibrium between fruiting and vegetative growth, receiving minimal pruning. '''Solaxe''' uses limb bending to control vigour, a modification from '''vertical axis''' which uses periodical pruning.<ref name=":04" />

'''Super spindle''' orchard design utilises high density planting, with up to or over 2000 trees/acre. The benefits of high density include high early yields with reduced inputs such as labour due to reduced manual work and the ability to have high output picking during harvest.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Robinson|first1=T.L.|last2=Hoying|first2=S.A.|last3=Reginato|first3=G.H.|date=2011|title=The Tall Spindle Planting System: Principles and Performance|url=https://www.actahort.org/books/903/903_79.htm|journal=Acta Horticulturae|issue=903|pages=571–579|doi=10.17660/actahortic.2011.903.79|issn=0567-7572|archive-date=2022-04-04|access-date=2018-05-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220404075523/https://www.actahort.org/books/903/903_79.htm|url-status=dead|url-access=subscription}}</ref> High density plantings are grown with a trellis system for tree support.

'''Tall spindle''' shares many of the high density benefits as super spindle, and is a combination of slender spindle, vertical axis, solaxe and super spindle systems. It utilises high density planting on dwarfing rootstocks with a range between 2,500 and 3,300 trees/acre. Tall spindle systems utilise minimal pruning at planting, and uses branch bending to control growth, and limb pruning to renew branches as they become too large. As tree height exceeds 90% of the row spacing, fruit quality at the lower parts of the tree may be reduced.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Weber|first=M.S.|title=The Super Spindle System |date=August 1998|url=https://www.actahort.org/books/513/513_32.htm|journal=Acta Horticulturae|issue=513|pages=271–278|doi=10.17660/actahortic.1998.513.32|issn=0567-7572|url-access=subscription}}</ref>