Colour Plates -- Contents -- Contributors -- Preface -- Acknowledgements -- 1 Taxonomic Classification and Brief History -- 2 World Production, Trade, Consumption and Economic Outlook for Apples -- 3 Genetic Improvement of Apple: Breeding, Markers, Mapping and Biotechnology -- 4 Characteristics of Important Commercial Apple Cultivars -- 5 Apple Rootstocks -- 6 Propagation and Nursery Tree Quality -- 7 Flowering, Pollination and Fruit Set and Development -- 8 Water Relations of Apples -- 9 Light Relations -- 10 Temperature -- 11 Selecting the Orchard Site, Site Preparation and Orchard Planning and Establishment -- 12 Nutritional Requirements of Apple -- 13 Orchard-floor Management Systems -- 14 Pruning and Training Physiology -- 15 Apple-orchard Planting Systems -- 16 Flower and Fruit Thinning and Vegetative : Fruiting Balance -- 17 Endogenous Hormones and Bioregulator Use on Apples -- 18 Diseases of Apple -- 19 Ecology and Management of Apple Arthropod Pests -- 20 Apple-orchard Freeze Protection -- 21 Integrated Fruit Production for Apples - Principles and Guidelines -- 22 Organic Apple Production - with Emphasis on European Experiences -- 23 Principles and Practices of Postharvest Handling and Stress -- 24 Production and Handling Techniques for Processing Apples -- Index.