EXPENSES AND PROFITS. 259 



Hop kiln, 24x24 ft., with stove complete $1,250 



Poles, 7 ft. apart, 820 per acre, at $30 per 1,000 177 



1,640 hop sets per acre, at $3 per 1,000 40 



Marking out yard and planting sets at $5 per acre 40 



100 hop boxes of 15 bu. capacity 100 



Two double-acting spray pumps, with barrels and sleigh 50 



Hop press 165 



Total first cost $1,822 



The annual charges include interest and 15 per cent, 

 depreciation en the above items of first cost, together aggre- 

 gating $325 a year. Good hop land is worth at least $100 an 

 acre, and interest and :axes may be added to the following 

 figures. No insurance is included because the rate is too 

 high, and proper care is cheaper than to. pay insurance. 

 Neither do we use manure on our rich lands, on the Pacific 

 coast, which saves a large item that eastern and foreign 

 hop growers have to pay, and their yield per acre under 

 favorable conditions is not as large as ours. When yard 

 forms part of farm, horses and implements are not charged 

 to initial expenses, because they are part of the farm outfit. 

 With this explanation we get the following: 



ANNUAL EXPENSES ON EIGHT-ACRE YARD. 



Depreciation and interest $325 



Setting up poles at $5 per acre 40 



Credit the farm for one man, two horses, with use of imple- 

 ments for all horse cultivation and work 250 



Tyingsat $3, $1 and 50c per acre 36 



Spraying once $4 (may be $12), say $7 per acre 56 



Picking 1,800 Ibs. per acre at $1 per box 504 



Curing and drying 90 



Baling by four men two days $12, floor and baling cloth, string $30 42 



Cleaning up yard at $2.50, hauling to depot $1 27 



Total annual expenses $1,370 



Profit if all goes well 730 



Receipts for 1,800 Ibs. per acre at 15c on eight acres $2,100 



Sometimes the yield is larger, more often less. The 

 price is oftener less than more. The above makes an ex- 

 pense of about $171 per acre, or about lOc per Ib. on a good, 

 full crop. But the expense up to harvesting is the same, 

 whether the yield is large or small, the quality good or bad. 

 With the wide fluctuations in crop results, it is easy to see 

 that cost per pound of hops in the bale may easily mean far 

 above lOc per Ib. and seldom below it. With market prices 

 ranging from 5c to 25c, the speculative nature of the indus- 

 try is apparent, as many have learned to their sorrow. 



