450 Report of Farmers' Institutes 



ago the New York Agricultural Experiment Station, in order to 

 determine the advantages or disadvantages of the sod-mulch method 

 compared with tillage, leased a Baldwin orchard of ten acres, the 

 trees being 30 years old. This orchard was in excellent condition 

 and typical of the best orchards of that age in the state,* The 

 total average annual yield per acre was 116.8 barrels. Of this 

 number, 79.2 were barreled stock ; the remaining 37.6 barrels were 

 culls. The average price received for the ten years, including 

 package, was $2.60 per barrel. The interest was figured on an 

 investment of land values at $500 per acre, for which amount the 

 orchard was actually sold after the completion of the experiment. 

 The following shows the actual cost of growing a baiTcl of 



apples : 



Pei- barrel 



Interest $0.21 



Taxes - .012 



Tillage .063 



Pruning .03 



Spraying . 096 



Seed for cover crop . 023 



Superintending .25 



Gathering and marketing . 244 



Total $0.93 



Barrel .36 



Total cost of growing and marketing a barrel of mer- 

 chantable apples $1 . 29 



Deducting the cost from the selling price, $2.60, leaves $1.31 

 profit. The seventy-nine barrels brought a profit of $103.49 per 

 acre. Deducting from this $7.89, the loss on growing 37.6 barrels 

 of culls over cost of production, we have a net income of $95.60 

 per acre — a most excellent business enterprise. One must not, 

 however, lose sight of the fact that, were the selling price reduced 

 to $2 or below, the income would be materially reduced and 

 orcharding would be no more profitable than many other lines of 

 farm crops. 



DEDUCTIONS 



There are in the foregoing some factors of decided advantage 

 to the fruit grower, among which are the following : 

 1. Decreased number of bearing trees. 



* Those interested in the details of this experiment will find it in Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture Bulletin 79, pp. SO.I-SIO. 



