especially prone to binding to the pomace with about 30% extracted into the juice. Cider apples can have five times the total phenolic content compared to dessert apples, but there is a limited supply of bittersweet and bittersharp apples in the U.S. to meet the needs of the fast-growing cider industry. Some cider makers add exogenous tannins to improve phenolic characteristics, and researchers are working on improving polyphenol extraction technology. In countries with more well-established cider industries, such as the U.K. and France, there is an adequate supply of high tannin cider apples. About one half of the apples processed for cider in Europe are bittersweet fruit. Orchard design Traditional orchard design The end of the 1950s saw a huge turn in cider apple orchard design, where before traditional styles of orchard had been maintained for centuries. Traditional orchards are now uncommon, though they can still be found in places like Spain where most growers have maintained traditional systems. Traditional orchards were designed with large spacing between individual large trees;(6–12 meters tall and spaced about 7.6–9 meters apart) typically, less than 150 trees per hectare. Trees within an orchard were more variable in age; individual trees would be grown until they died and a new tree would be planted in its place. Older trees in traditional orchards can grow gnarled and hollowed for the tree's entire lifespan. The large (7.6 meter) spherical-shaped canopies of traditional methods differ from various planting systems that use conic, flat planar or v-shaped styles. Traditional orchards were often intercropped: it was particularly common to use a silvopastoral system that combined fruit trees and pasture. The natural grasses forming the orchard's undergrowth were often grazed by sheep or cows: the English "grass orchard" was particularly associated with cider producing districts. Management techniques did not use fertiliser or chemicals, other than the natural fertilisation from the dung of grazing cattle, and generally required less training than modern, high-density systems. Budding of scions took place high up in the tree, typically using vigorous rootstocks or seedlings. Traditional orchards have been found to produce apples with lower nitrogen content and higher polyphenolic levels. In recent years, there has been a decline in the numbers of traditional cider orchards and a corresponding loss of orchard design knowledge between generations of apple growers. Traditional orchards have, for example decreased by about 20% since 1994 in parts of Germany. The decline is