Michael Zingler stands next to a planting of SweeTango in its third leaf and describes the reasoning behind the design of the orchard: Efficient use of harvest labor. Western New York apple grower Michael Zingler likes his harvest system well enough to design his orchards to fit it. “This is kind of tall spindlish, but trees have to be four feet apart or closer to fit that category,” said Dr. Terence Robinson, the Cornell University horticulturist who promotes the tall spindle system he and his colleagues devised. “This is more ­vertical axe. It has more permanent lower limbs.” “It’s a […]