124 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



which will not compete with the fruit crop, that is, which will not need a large amount 

 of care at the time when the fruit crop demands attention. Certain lines of stock hus- 

 bandry in which the animals are fed in winter and pastured in summer are practicable 

 in some cases. Remember also the value of the manure. Dairying, of course, would 

 come in competition with the fruit crop. In most cases some line of fann work can be 

 found which will not encroach seriously upon the fruit crop, and which will make use of 

 the capital goods and labor of the farm that otherwise would be idle. To that extent it 

 will cheapen the cost of producing fruit. 



Added to the cost of producing the fruit is the cost of placing it on the market. Here 

 also are many points that make for profit of loss. The cost of harvesting and packing, 

 the cost of packages, the distance of the orchard from the railroad or shipping point, the 

 character of the roads between the orchard and the shipping point, the cost of transpor- 

 tation and commission, these and other points should be figured on. Every mile that 

 an orchard is distant from a shipping point adds to the price at which the grower can 

 put fruit on the market at a profit. The cost of placing fruit on the market is as fluc- 

 tuating as the cost of producing it, and is not within the province of this article. 



ESTIMATES ON COST OF PRODUCTION. 



The foregoing paragraplis have emphasized the fact that the cost of producing fruit 

 is extremely variable, depending upon many factors, most of which the fruit grower can 

 control. Any estimate riiust be a personal estimate — how much it costs a certain man 

 in a certain locality — and this estimate may be wide of the general average. Merely to 

 show what it costs some men to produce fruit, I quote from some letters received from 

 prominent fruit growers. The figures given includes both the cost of growing the fruit 

 and the cost of marketing it. The estimates are for the first grade fruit. 



Apples: 



T. A. Farrand, Eaton Rapids, Mich 25c per bushel. 



W. M. Pratt, Benton Harbor, Mich 28c " 



Benton Gebhardt, Hart, Mich 25c " " 



T. C. WUson, Hannibal, Mo 30c " ]^ 



L. A. Goodman, Kansas City, Mo 20c " 



F. Walden, Seattle, Wash 40c " " 



PcdTs ' 



T. Farrand, Eaton Rapids, Mich 34c " 



W. M. Pratt, Benton Harbor, Mich 30c || || 



L. A. Goodman, Kansas City, Mo 80c 



F. Walden, Seattle, Wash 40c " 



T. A. Farrand, Eaton Rapids, Mich $1 .00 " " 



Benton Gebhardt, Hart, Mich 75c " " 



W. M. Pratt, Benton Harbor, Mich 1 30 " '| 



L. A. Goodma^, Kansas City, Mo 70c " 



Plums: 



T. A. Farrand, Eaton Rapids, Mich 50c " 



Benton Gebhardt, Hart, Mich 50c || " 



L. A. Goodman, Kansas City, Mo 50c 



F. Walden, Seattle, Wash 46c " 



Pcdchss ' 



T. A. Farrand, Eaton Rapids, Mich 43c " 



Benton Gebhardt, Hart, Mich 45 to 60c " 



W. M. Pratt, Benton Harbor, Mich 40c '| |] 



L. A. Goodman, Kansas Citv, Mo 40c 



T. C. Wilson, Kansas City, Mo 30c " 



F. Walden, Seattle, Wash. '. 51c " 



C. B. Welch, Douglas, Mich 37c " 



Grapes: 



W. M. Pratt, Benton Harbor, Mich 4-5 c per lb. 



L. A. Goodman, Kansas City, Mo Ic 



N. G. Blalock, Walla Walla, Wash 2c " " 



