An investigation was carried out in order to evaluate some of the factors which influence the use of dwarf and semi-dwarf apple trees in commercial orchards in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia. Three determining factors were found to be of prime importance: the planting density of the trees in the orchard, the tree form as determined by the pruning and training system carried out and the nature of the rootstock used. In the Doornberg Orchards at Okanagan Centre where the experiments were conducted, semi-dwarf trees on Malling VII rootstock trained as hedgerows and planted at a high density per acre gave the optimum earliest and total yields and returns. The experiments were carried out from planting time up to the end of the sixth growing season. The variety of apple used in the experiment was Golden Delicious. / Land and Food Systems, Faculty of / Graduate

M.S.

This study was undertaken to determine the effect of different work methods, types of equipment, and the size of operation on the cost of packing apples in bushel units. The information in this study was based on plants packing from 9,000 to 108,000 bushels of apples during the 1956 packing season. The data collected at these plants revealed wide variations in methods of handling and packing apples which had significant influences on the cost of packing house operations. To determine the relative influence of these factors on the cost of packing apples, each of the major packing house operations was considered separately. / Master of Science