70 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



<li(' renter. Sluiic Iciisiiii; ni.-ikcs ;i inoi-c coiiiiilicjtlcd coiilrnct lliaii cash 

 I'ciilal. 



Most <»r our siiialk'i- oicliaids aio leased for a reiilal of Irdiu ten to 

 Iwenly-dve husliels of winler apples, Iree lun, willi a proviso (hat this 

 shall not exceed one-fourth of anv crop. These orchards have from 

 twenlv-five to one linndi-ed trees each. I*rivilei»(' of iiasturaj^e for hoj2,s 

 and sheep usually until Se]»tend)er 1 is <iran(ed, also sunnner and fall 

 ai>ples and cider a])ples for family use. These owners are ticHinu all 

 the j>ood fruit they can use witlutut ell'oil on their ])art, and (heir 

 orchai'ds are iin])rovini;-, bolh of which were not Irue before leasing them. 

 An(»(hei' orchard of one hundred trees in better condition is r(Mited as 

 abovi' will) an addilional cash rental of 1^0 annually. The care of an- 

 other orchard is cliari"('d 1o the o^\ner. lie and (he lenaut (ake finit 

 for (heii- own use and we harvest the balance on halves. Two oichards 

 of KM) and 17.'') trees, resjK'clively, are leased on shares. \\v keep an 

 accurale account of all expense put u[»on (he orchards, inchulini; jirnn- 

 inji', si>rayin<»', harvesting and marketinj>- the fini(. i>ackages, e(c. This 

 is dedncled li'om the j>roceeds and (he balance divided one-third to the 

 owner and (wo-diirds to the renter. If (he proceeds of any season are 

 not e(pial (o the exjienses (he ren(er nius( stand the dehciency. This 

 I)Ian requires a very complete contiact, it being necessary to s])ecify the 

 wages chargeable; and nuuiy oilier details and requires a complete and 

 syslemalic ke<'ping of accounts, but these orchards could not be leased 

 in any other way. The owner of one of these orchards will rec(Mve a 

 small balance this season, while the other one will receive as much as 

 the i-enter w<Hild feel like ])aying for (he entire term oC the conlract on 

 a cash basis. 



This brings us (o (he fourth and jicihaps the most in((»rcs(ing division 

 of (he subject, namely, the tinancial ])rospect. Will orchard h^asing jiay 

 the owner, the renter, or botli? 



So far as the owner is concerned we must i)resume that ho would not 

 or could not give (he orchard ])roper care himself, otherwise we would 

 not lease it. His choice, then, is between the entire income from a 

 neglected orchard, or a reasonable cash rental or share of the fruit or 

 proceeds from the orchard when cared foi'. In every instance in our 

 exjK'rience the owner has been a gainer by leasing the orchard as com- 

 inired with his income from it before leasing. A\''ithout effort on his jiart 

 he is assured of good fruit, a cash income, or both, while under the former 

 i-egime he received nothing, or at most, som(> ]ioor fruit. 



The income of the renter will vary with the conditions |)revionsly 

 mentioned, but with a reasonably favorable o]»])ortunity I believe his 

 pros])ect of a fair profit is better than in any other line of work he can 

 take up with an equal amount of cai»ital. 



in conclusion I will give you a few ti^ures on the results from our 

 rented orchards, which may perhajts be taken as ty]»ical of what may be 

 expected under similar circumstances. Taking one season A\'itli another, 

 our ex])e.rience leads me to believe that the reut(M' should be able to real- 

 ize from .f75 to |1()() per acre net cm his orchards, which is a |ir(Mty fair 

 income for the investment. Last year with a little more than half the 

 acreage we have this season, and about half of the trees in bearing. Ave 

 sold 1(10 barrels of summer and fall ai»i>les and 44:> of winter fruit, be- 

 sides 50 barrels kept by the owners and ourselves, a total of itXi barrels. 



