128 



Commercial Gardening 



3. COST OF PRODUCTION AND 

 MARKETING RECEIPTS 



It is comparatively easy to estimate the average annual cost of pro- 

 duction upon an acre of Cherries; but, like all other fruit crops, Cherries 

 are subject to such large fluctuations in yield from year to year that it 

 is somewhat of a speculation to estimate the average cost of picking 

 and marketing the crop. Thus, in years when the crop is a large one 

 an orchard may yield upon the average as much as 6 or 8 half-sieves 

 per tree, and individual trees as high as from 10 to 15 halves; whilst in 

 other years, when the crop is short, the same orchard may fail to produce 

 even 1 half-sieve per tree. In years when the crop is large, the cost of 

 gathering the fruit per half-sieve is very much less than \vhen the crop is 

 small, though, of course, the total cost is much higher for the big crop. 



In order to make the figures representing the cost of production as 

 intelligible as possible, the figures have been set down in three columns. 

 The first column represents the minimum cost of production, and is based 

 upon the assumption that the crop amounts to 1 half -sieve per tree = 

 40 halves per acre. The second column represents the maximum cost 

 of production, and is based upon a crop of 8 halves per tree = 320 per 

 acre. The third column gives the writer's opinion of what is the average 

 annual cost of production. It will be noticed that the figures in this 

 column are not in all cases the mean between the minimum and maximum 

 cost. This is done with intention, since the average cost is not, in fact, 

 the mean between the minimum and maximum figures. 



