Brierley, W. G.. (1921). Length of Life of Apple Trees in Minnesota. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/188219

Brierley, W. G.

University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy

I. .Length of Life of Apple Trees in Minnesota J • BY W. G. BRIERLEY Univm·sity ·of iliinnesota, St .. Pa,ul,. Minn. [Rep1\inted jTom ProceecUngs of the Ame1··ic(tn Society JOI' AgricuWuraZ ~m~l~] · ·· /3 rf Notes·.on the Length of Life of Apnle Trees hi Minnesota'+: By W. G. BRIERLEY, Un·iversity of Minnesota, St: i'a~tl l11inn. T I-IE longevity of an apple tree is. determined by many differ-ent factors. Selection of sites and varieties and the subse-· quent care of the trees may be- managed in ·s;tJch widely differing ways that trees in some cases will live several times as long as in other cases. In Minnesota, where apple trees are not long lived as a rule, this wide variation in length of life has been recognized for a long time. I!J. the ExperirrieRt' St~tion, 1\!I. Ji. Dorsey and C. Haralson have worked for years to develop hardy varieties and to analyze hardiness in the effort to produce longer lived trees. - It is difficult to separate ol1t the effect of climate fr,om other factors affecting longevity. If the varying sites, different cultural methods, varieties, s.tructural weaknesses, and the effects of in-sects and diseases be disrt?garcled, it will he found that climatic fac-tors, such as sever·e winter cold, drying winds, and summer drought, take a heavy toll in Minnesota orchards. 'No systematic study of the life duration of varieties has been attempted, but our Experiment Station workers ha:ve estimated 30 years as the average for all varieties gro>vn under our conditions. · . In a cost of production survey in Minnesota some intersting data on the life of trees were obtained. In 64 orchards included in the survey the range in age was 8 to 36 years (on the basis of 1920.) Only two of the orchards were over 25 years old, and the mean age was 15.6 years. Table I slw-..,;s the grouping according to age, the number. of brchards, and the average in each group for 58 of the or<;lharcls surveyed. TAnLE I. Age Grot~ping of 58 Bearing Orcharcls in Minnesota Age of NmnlJer of Number of Group No. •.rrees Orchards Acres 1 8 to 13 13 83.5 2 14 to 19 34 232.2 3 20 to 36 11 44.1 Mean 15.6 Total 58 359'.8 While this table shows that the majority of the orchards con-sidered were planted between l 900 and 1906, it also indicates t.hat the older. orchards are few in .munber. About as many more or-chards from 20 to 36 .years' of age were visited, but could not be jnclud~cl in the survey on account of the poor condition of the treesi" To judge from the condition of these older orchards and also of th<;>se. in group .2, the latter ·will be failing when ten or fifteen years are acl:cled to their age. ' *Published with the approval of the Director as Paper No. 144 Mis-cellaneous Series, of the MinnesotR Agricultural Ecxperiment Station. X . . , I I : , I 'l'he average life history of an. apple tree in Minnesota is to co1nn1ence bearing at 6 to 8 years after planting, reach its maxi-mum production at 'about 20 years and then .gradually fail. Ap-parently this is due in the main to the. effect of climate, pr to lack of hardiness. An attempt to round up the opinions of represen-tative orchardists of the state as to the normal length of life of some of the common apple varieties was recently made through a questionnaire. In. Table II 'these replies are averaged and the varieties arranged according to life expectancy, ancl the figures are from 8: questionnaire sent to representative orchardists. TABLE II. Estimated Length of Life 'of Apple Variet·ies Commwnly Grown Number of Replies 62 71 60 54 43 70 29 64 74 in ll'linnesota. _., Variety Estimated Length of Life in Years Hibernal · Oldenburg Patten Transcenda~nt (Ora h) Anisim \7i,Tealthy Florence (Crab) Northwestern All varieties 37.5 35.5 34.3 34.3 28.2' 26.2 26.2 16.9 29.0 From this table it appears that none of our ·common hardy varieties are able on the average to withstand .our Minnesota. win-ters for 40 years. The length of life of these varieties is directly correlated with their hardiness, 'which is expected in a region where severe winters are frequent. That is, w.e .generally admit that a severe climate shortens the life of apple trees and all 6£. these figi.ll'es support that view. · 

Length of Life of Apple Trees in Minnesota

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Length of Life of Apple Trees in Minnesota

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