PKAK GROWING IK CAM KOKNIA. 229 



COST OF PRODUCTION OF FULL-BEARING TREES. 



In 1914 l)('i)uty County Ilorticultiii-al ('oinniissiouer of Sacramento 

 County, ]\Ir. F. C. l^ro.sins, prcpari'd an articU' for the Monthly liullctin 

 of the State Commission of Horticulture on the cost of producing- pears, 

 from 25 to 40-year-old trees in an orchard containing 1,000 bearing 

 trees. The following table is copied from the article as published at 

 that time. It contains nnich information which is of interest as well as 

 of nnich value to the pear grower: 



"Yield From 1,000 Pear Trees, 25 to 40 Years Old, 189 Tons or 7,000 Packed Boxes. 



CULTUKAL COST. 



Pruning, one man, 7 troos per day. at $1.75, or 25 cents per tree $250 00 



Pear blight pruning in si)ring, at 20 cents per tree 200 00 



Plowing, one man. one acre i)er day, at $2.25 per day 43 00 



(tJir acres, ',i cultivations. 19 days) 



Pumpiui;. irrigating on ii'i acres, at $7..50 per acre, per season----- 47 50 

 Hauling from orchard to packing shed, one man, 19 days and $2.25 



per day 42 7o 



Two tons fertilizer, at .$38.00 per ton 7tj 00 



One team. 130 davs, cultivating, spraying, hauling, etc., feeding at 



.$1.00 per day 130 00 



COST OF SPRAYING. 



For thrips : 



22 gallons distillate per tank, at 18 cents per gal., or 



.30 trees -- $3 9C 



One pint black leaf "40" per tank, or 30 trees 1 25 



$5 21 



Or 17 cents per tree for spraying l.OQO trees twice in s.^asou 340 00 



¥ov codling moth and thrips : 



12 pounds lead arsenate per tank, or 30 trees, at $1 20 



One pint black leaf "40" per tank, or 30 trees 1 25 



$2 45 



Or 9 cents per tree for spraying 1,000 trees three times in season-- 270 00 



For pear scab : 



.500 pounds lime-sulphiir spray, at 7j cents per pound 30 25 



(One special spraying and one combined with codling moth spray) 

 Labor : 



Three hose men, one driver, at .$2.25 per day ; 5 tanks, or 1.50 trees 



per day, 4 sprayings in season of 42 days 378 00 



PICKING AND PACKING. 



I'icking : 



One man, 30 bo.xes per day, at $2.25, or 7i cents per box, 7.000 



boxes -J-X' ^JS. 



Shook, nails, paper. 12 cents per box, 7.000 boxes 840 00 



Making boxes and packing, cents per box, 7,000 boxes 420 00 



Total cost of production .$3,598 50 



RECEIPTS. 



189 tons, or 7.000 boxes, at $1.10 net $7,700 00 



Deduct cost of production 3,.598 50 



Balance - $4,101 50" 



. The above estimate of the cost of production was made at a time when 

 labor was more plentiful and much cheaper than at the present time. 

 However, the average is believed to l)e fair. This case is a striking 

 illu.stration of the amount of money that it is sometimes necessary to 

 invest in order to make an orchard pay for itself. Without spraying, 

 pruning, cultivation and all those things which go toward making a 

 success of an orchard such profits could not possibly l)e made. 



