800 THE FRUIT INDUSTRY ix XEW YORK STATE 



without any fillers, and without any crops, that orchard would 

 have cost us an actual outlay of about $250 an acre, instead of 

 $200. For me that is sufficient argument for growing crops be- 

 tween the rows. In giving these figures I am not setting up 

 any standard, because I know some growers have made two or 

 three times as much as this from intercrop^, and others have not 

 made anything. I am thoroughly convinced, so far as I am con- 

 cerned, that it pays to fill young apple orchards, and that it pays 

 to grow crops between the rows. The crops we grew were as fol- 

 lows : corn, beans, beans, beans, beans, and corn again. Then we 

 put in oats, wheat, and two years of hay, and then went back to 

 wheat and beans again. Of course we have to grow the intercrops 

 farther and farther from the tree rows each year. We now keep 

 a full harrow width on each side of the tree for cultivation, hav- 

 ing gradually widerted the distance each year. 



As to the income from these various crops, I do not feel that I 

 can give averages, except in one or two cases. So far as we have 

 tested, beans have averaged $8.40 per acre net profit for five years, 

 charging interest and overhead expense to the orchard; corn, an 

 average of $3.50 for the two years that we grew it; hay, $5.50; 

 grain, $8.15 for the two years. Peas gave us a profit of $25 an 

 acre, but that was two years ago when we had a good crop. Last 

 year we did not try to grow peas. 



We all know the relative advantages and disadvantages of 

 growing these various crops. We know, for instance, that corn 

 between the tree rows is not advantageous to the trees in many 

 cases. We know the trouble in harvesting I will not go into 

 this. I have given these figures simply to show some of the possi- 

 bilities of these crops. 



APPLES WITH PEACHES AS FILLERS 



I shall also give the facts on one other orchard. This is an apple 

 orchard filled both ways with peaches. It is a ten-acre orchard, 

 but I shall give the figures only on that half which is now seven 

 years old, and for the first four years. It cost us $84 an acre to 

 grow this orchard. During this period we obtained a gross in- 

 come of $313.13, or a little over $62 an acre, leaving a net loss of 

 $107, or a little over $21 an acre, at the end of the four-year 



