148 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Fourth Year. 



ToJ interest on land $G 00 



To spraying trees 4 50 



To pruning trees 4 50 



To plowing and cultivating 4 50 



To putting in cover crop 75 



To 50 bushels wood ashes at 5 cents per bushel 2 50 



— $22 75 



Fifth Year. 

 To all expenses ." 28 00 



Total for five years $103 48 



I estimate that for the next five years the cost will be $40.00 per acre per year or. $200 00 

 First five years expenses 103 48 



Total expenses on one acre for ten years $303 48 



The average yield per tree for ten years would be some where around 10 bushels 



with 104 trees an acre, bushels 1,040 



Cost of production $303.50-^1,040 bushels equals per bushel $0 29 



Bushel baskets at 12 cents 12 



$0 41 

 Packing and marketing 04 



Total : $0 45 



The additional cost of fertilizing would bring it 50 cents total. 



While the above cost of production is higher than many growers would figure it; however 

 it is the actual cost of putting first class fruit upon the market which should leave a net 

 of from 60 to 75 cents per bushel or a net of from $60.00 to $75.00 per acre per year. 



Prof. Fletcher also gave me the following prices on the cost of 'production, which were 

 obtained from different sources: Prices are for fruit in package at orchard and include 

 the average cost of the life of the orchard. 



Mr. Benton Gebhardt, Hart, Mich., 45 to 60 cents per bushel. 



T. C. Wilson, Hannibal, Missouri, 30 cents per bushel. 



W. M. Pratt, Benton Harbor, Mich., 40 cents per bushel. 



T. A. Farrand, Eaton Rapids, Mich., 50 cents per bushel. 



L. A. Goodman, Kansas City, Missouri, 30 cents per bushel. 



In questioning many different growers, I find that the majority would be satisfied with 

 50 cents net, even on land worth $200.00 per acre. 



The outlook for the peach business was never better to the man who is in position to 

 wait a few years and possesses the other requirements as well, i. e. — location and soil. 



Location is the first point to consider; all other things being favorable, a bad location 

 means certain failure; an ideal location for peach trees is a liigh, rolling elevation where 

 the very best air drainage is obtainable; and if the land slopes toward the northwest, so 

 much the better; never set peach trees in a hollow, because they are very liable to late 

 frost, and the fruit does not color up as well as on trees having a high location; also if the 

 weather should be rainy and muggy about ripening season, the peaches will rot very 

 quickly; early varieties seem much more susceptible to rot, than later varieties: 



The next point to consider, is soil. This is a great factor in profitable peach growing' 

 the best soil is a warm, sandy, loam type, the soil on which oak trees have previously 

 grown seems to be the ideal peach soil; it is a mistake to plant peach trees in soil containing 

 too large a per cent of nitrogen; the trees grow vigorously, but rarely yield enough fruit 

 to more than pay the expense of production. 



Growers from different parts of the State have told me that peaches cannot be profitably 

 grown on new land; but after the land has been farmed a few years, trees can be again 

 set, and will prove most profitable; this fact is no doubt due to a superabundance of nitrogen 

 in the soil, and might not apply to any other kind of fruit trees. 



Now that location and soil have been disposed of, the next consideration is the tree 

 to be planted; get the very best tree you can buy, as nmch depends on the vitality of the 

 tree. I prefer small trees, having none of the fibrous roots removed, as they start quicker 



