SPECIAL ACCOUNTS AND ENTRIES 183 



tion, care of trees, harvesting, and overhead charges, in- 

 cluding interest on the investment for the year. It is cred- 

 ited with all income for the year from the fruit. The bal- 

 ance of the account is the net profit for the year and is 

 closed into Loss and Gain. 



This method of handling the items after the investment 

 is found, leaves the investment intact in the Orchard ac- 

 count itself, which is carried as a resource from year to 

 year until the orchard starts to depreciate. Orchard ac- 

 count is then credited and the Orchard Expense and In- 

 come account debited for depreciation. The time of this 

 is quite indefinite, 1 peach trees having a bearing life of 

 only about nine or ten years, while apple trees are about 

 in their prime at that time, the twelfth to fourteenth year 

 of their growth. 



If it is desired to know which variety of fruit pays best 

 it is necessary to keep detailed cost records. The one that 

 sells for the highest price is not necessarily the one that 

 pays best. Perhaps the last named variety requires more 

 spraying, is more susceptible to frost, is more expensive 

 in thinning, or in pruning, and that picking costs are in- 

 creased because of the difficulty in finding sufficient color 

 to class as Fancy or Extra Fancy. Detailed costs are 

 required in order to state intelligently that one class or 

 variety pays better than another. Such detail could be 

 made profitable in large orchards, but not in the average 

 orchard conducted incidentally with general farming oper- 

 ations. 



Woodland. The value of wooded land should be kept 

 in an account by itself, and not classed with farm land 

 until it is cleared for cultivation. The value at which it 

 is placed on the books may be left indefinitely, since the 

 removal of the wood is considered as making it more val- 

 uable for tillage. For this reason a Woodland Expense 



1 Oregon Agricultural College Experiment Station Bulletin No. 132. 



