ii8 



.\CRICULTURK OF MAINE. 



Tabic Shinriiig Comparative Nets a'd Costs of Single Trees. 



Name. 



Hobbs. . 

 DoUofT . 

 Bragger 

 Hescock 

 Bearce . . 

 Morrill. . 



$1.54 



.84 



1.26 



.88 

 .70 

 .07 



There are some totals that are of interest. In the first place 

 the total cost runs very uniformly throughout, that is, the cost 

 to the acre, with $42.08 as the highest and $20.18 as the lowest; 

 but outside of that one orchard the cost run very close. The 

 total nets, of course, as might be expected, vary considerably. 

 The largest net for the five years of operation in this orchard 

 was $425.03, — that is about $80 or a little better per year. In 

 some orchards with the smaller nets, only hay has been taken 

 off in the last three years. The cost per tree per year did vary, 

 however. In the first orchard, the actual cost, as near as it 

 could be found from the average cost for the five years, was 31 

 cents per tree and varied from that to 13 cents per tree, with 

 perhaps 17 or 18 as a close estimate for the average. I think 

 Prof. Sears, in his report on his own orchard of 108 trees per 

 acre, gives the average cost per tree per year at something around 

 25 cents, and it is surprising that under conditions of the 

 Gregory orchards this should come even as close. The total 

 cost per tree for five years, as given in the last column, varied 

 from $1.54 to 67 cents. Even taking into consideration the 

 different methods of orchard management, there should not be 

 that variation. Probably the first orchard has been figured 

 rather high. I have no doubt it has, because the figures have 

 been lumped each year and they have been uniformly higher 

 than in any of the other orchards, and I don't believe the man 

 really has put in the time that would be indicated. Of course 

 some of these figures are extreme estimates. I wrote one man 

 in regard to the pruning of his orchard in 191 1, and he wrote 

 back that he thought perhaps $1.50 a year would cover his 

 pruning; $1.50 a year would mean, he put in about eight hours 



