Figure 1 identifies principal apple production areas in the United States. Production and yield are very sensitive to weather and are adversely affected particularly by freezes at blossom time. Hence production locations often are adjacent to large bodies of water, which have a moderating effect on local weather extremes. An alternative is production at higher elevations where both altitude and breeze serve to slow spring budding and minimize the occurrence of frost. Finally, yields can be subjected to somewhat greater control in arid locations where atmospheric moisture is low and ground moisture can be controlled by irrigation, as in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and British Columbia (Funt, Lee).