552 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



From this summary a balance sheet or a statement that tells the all im 

 portant facts may be computed. 



TABLE II— BALANCE SHEET FOR IH-ACKE, 12 YEAH OLD PEACH 



ORCHARD 



EXPENSES KKTIRNS 



Total cost for orchard. . .!if7,Sol oT Total ictiwiis for or- 



Average cost j)er year. . . 052 01 cliard $H),oy4: 42 



Average cost per acre per Average retmiis per 



year 43 50 year 1 ,591 20 



Average returns ])er 



acre per year 106 08 



Net profit for the orchard |1 1,263 05 



Net profit per year 938 58 



Net profit per acre per year 62 57 



Net profit per bushel ( 1 6,972 ) 66 



An overhead charge should be ma'de to provide for the orchard's share 

 in the farm buildings, tliough none for the orchard especially have been 

 erected, nor existing ones changed. Tlierefore, such an item can only be 

 estimated and might be assumed at 2i/o cents per bushel which would 

 amount to .^424.30. 



Another expense would include the cost of clearing tlie land wlien the 

 trees become unprofitable or killed by a freeze. 



REMARKS 



PRESENT CONDITION OF THE ORCHARD 



The orchard is still in excellent condition. The crop of 1918 would in- 

 dicate this following a winter of the lowest temperatures in many years. 

 If the trees had been set 24 feet apart instead of 20 feet, it would liave 

 been better as they would have then developed more fruiting surface. How- 

 ever, there should be five or six more crops from this orcliard before it 

 .becomes unprofitable from age. The first peach orchard on this site pro- 

 duced 12 crops and the second orchard was four years old when it was so 

 badly damaged by the freeze of October, 1906, that it was pulled out but 

 had produced one crop. 



VARIATIONS IN THE YIELDS AND PRICES 



One of the most prominent things in the account is the wide variations 

 in the size of the crop and the prices received. The care of the orchard 

 was the same every year ; one season as near like another as possible. The 

 crop did not increase regularly with the increased size or age of the trees. 

 The weather for the year is all that will account for the differences, and 

 shows its tremendous influence on peach production in this region, which 

 is not unlike all parts of the state when peaches are grown commercially. 



Peach crops of uniform size cannot be depended upon nor should they 

 be expected. Averages must be the rule of measure. 



