LEASING ORCHARDS 127 



chard in shape, that 1 believe you should charge that pruning up to the 

 first two years' expense. 



Cultivation — To one who is examining an orchard to lease tht; topogra- 

 phy of the land must not be overlooked. There is rarely ever a season 

 during which a little cultivation would not be beneficial, and most or- 

 chards should be thoroughly cultivated throughout the growing of the 

 fruit crop, in the ordinary season. The writer has seen orchards offered 

 for lease which were planted on land so rough and rolling that cultiva- 

 tion was next to impossible and not at all practical. The character of the 

 soil has much to do with the problems of cultivation and should not be 

 overlooked. 



Terms of the Lease — Perhaps all the writer might say concerning the 

 contract between the owner and the lessee which would be of any benefit 

 to fellow workers would be along the line of length of the lease. We have 

 had experience in a three year crop lease, 'lut all other orchards handled 

 by Mr. Marshall and myself are under a cash lease. We prefer the cash 

 lease of not less than five years. It is not likely that the average orchard 

 will return enough profit to pay the expenses of running for the first two 

 years. There are some orchards which have received reasonably good 

 care that would do much better than this. It is quite impossible to esti- 

 mate the rental value of an orchard unless the different factors effecting 

 the producing power of the trees, which have been briefly discussed in 

 this paper, are taken into consideration. Generally speaking, it would be 

 the writer's opinion that the average good orchard in Nebraska should 

 command a leasing value of from $10 to $15 per acre, per annum. 



In conclusion, it seems that the practice of leasing orchards bids fair 

 to become quite common in the eastern part of the state. 



There are several general things I wanted to say, but I left those out. 

 One is this: If just the work that has been done in this state, the leasing 

 of orchards by going into communities where there was little knowledge 

 of the modern methods of the care of the orchards, is to be considered, 

 one "might well look upon himself as a public benefactor by stimulating 

 the interest in the community for taking care of the orchards. And I 

 think that is the case. Whenever orchards are taken care of, it is going 

 to stimulate an interest in the community to do better. 



DISCUSSION. 



Mr. Pollard: There is one thing I would like to ask, and that was in 

 regard to the varieties that you would suggest should be in an orchard. 

 I notice you do not want any summer varieties, or very few? 



A. Yes, sir. 



Q. Now wouldn't you make an exception in regard to the Duchess? 



A. I didn't mention the name of any summer varieties, but possibly 

 that would be all right. We always found that the Duchess we were 

 handling have sold about as well as any apple we had. But I have seen 

 Duchess apples stand in the depot at Weeping Water a day longer than 



