48 



N. H. Agricultural Experiment Station [Bulletin 257 



theii hay can be harvested perhaps on lialf the land for the first 10 

 years, or perhaps a crop can be grown to advantage. When more than 

 27 trees to the acre are planted, intercropping probably does not pay. 



Sod-Mulch Orchards Not Cultivated 



When the blocks not cultivated are segregated from the other blocks, 

 the cost of soil management varies greatly on different farms, ranging 

 from $.71 to $7.31 per acre (Table 17). This difference is accounted 

 for in large part by differences in type of work done. 



Farm 1 cuts a few swaths down through the orchard at a little less 

 than an acre of orchard per hour, and then uses 3.7 hours of hand 

 mowing (Table 18). 



130.2 



Atf 44. 



ZZ.2 



14.1 



16.8 



■:% 



79.1 



45.2 



6 7 8 



Farm Number 



10 



12 



Fig. 11. Man hours used in thinning per unit of 1,000 boxes actual yield 

 This chart indicates the variation in extent to which different growers con- 

 sider thinning essential, and also, in part, differences in varieties. Farm 1 

 with many fairly mature Wealthy trees was obliged to thin to get marketable 

 fruit. Conclusions as to efficiency in thinning cannot be drawn from this data. 



On Orchard 2 witli more trees per acre and thus with inore difficult 

 mowing, 1.5 hours machine mowing were used per acre, and then 5.2 

 hours of hand mowing were used in rather careful trimming around 

 each tree. 



Orchard 4 used 1.8 machine hours per acre and 12 to 14 hours in 

 hand mowing. In this case, the whole orchard area is heavily fer- 

 tilized, and grass growth is very vigorous, necessitating mowing twice 

 each year. 



Orchard 5 used 1.2 hours machine mowing per acre and 10.2 hours 

 hand mowing. This large proportion of hand mowing was necessi- 

 tated by rough rocky land. 



On Orchard 7, 1.2 machine hours were used per acre and 3.5 hours 

 hand mowing. On Orchard 8 some iiand mowing was done when 

 resting the horse while mowing with machine. Orcliards 3 and 12 put 

 considerable time on hauling and spreading nudcli. About three 

 hours per acre are accounted for in this way. 



An average of all the farms was 1.3 hours for machine mowing, 4.4 

 hours for hand mowing and 1.2 hours for mulching — a total of 6.9 

 hours per acre. With assumed rates per hour, the total cost per acre 

 was $3.30. 



