890 



THE FRUIT INDUSTRY IN NEW YORK STATE 



plat in this ten-year average is 116.8 barrels. Graded, the acre 

 average for the period is 79.2 of barreled stock and 37.6 barrels 

 of evaporator and cider stock. The proportion of evaporator and 

 cider stock is seemingly high made so by two autumn gales in 

 different seasons, which gave many windfalls. Yields per acre 

 vary greatly with the same variety in different orchards, even in 

 the same section, but there is little reason to think that the ten- 

 year acre average just given is much above the mark for orchards 

 that are well tilled, sprayed, and pruned. The annual yields are 

 shown in Table I. 



TABLE I. 

 ANNUAL YIELD OF FRUIT IN AUCHTER ORCHARD FOR TEN YEARS 



INTEREST ON INVESTMENT 



The first item in cost of production to be considered is interest 

 on investment. What is a Baldwin orchard, in full bearing in 

 the prime of life, worth ? Sales are too few, and most of those that 

 take place are made under conditions too abnormal to make selling 

 price a safe gauge of value. We will suppose the value to be $500 

 per acre and the interest 5 per cent. This valuation includes 

 not only cost of land, trees, and labor, but the deferred dividends 

 of the first twelve or fifteen years. It covers the overhead expense 

 of houses and barns or at least the share of these charges that 

 would fall to a ten-acre orchard in New York. The first expense 



