May, 1925] FARM PRODUCTION IN CHESHIRE COUNTY 39 



Standardized average cost per barrel of harvesting six-hundred barrel Baldwin crop. 



Picking $ . 39 



Sorting 10 



Heading 10 



Stenciling 01 



Hauling 12 



Total labor $ .72 



Cost of package and supplies .78 



Total $1.50 



The marketing costs at the University of New Hampshire orchard for 

 the 1923 crop were as follows: 



Returns per barrel for Baldwin apples, January, 1924. 



A-Grade. B-Grade. 



Wholesale price $5.50 $3.25 



Costs : 



Commission $ . 55 $ . 32 



Freight 30 .30 



Cartage 12 .12 



Storage 55 .55 



Total costs 1 . 52 1 .29 



Net returns per barrel at shipping point $3 . 98 $1 . 96 



The total cost per barrel at the car door, including both production 

 and harvesting costs, was $2.50 in 1923. The A-grade fruit returned 

 a net profit of $1.48, and the B-grade a net loss of $.54, when the cost 

 of production was distributed uniformly to all apples sold. A tree bear- 

 ing one and one-half barrels of A-grade fruit and one-half barrel of B-grade 

 would represent a net profit of $1.95 to the owner, which most growers 

 would consider a fair return. 



Northwestern growers selling on the same market during these years 

 have been scarcely able to meet expenses. They cannot expect to expand 

 their acreage of apples on the basis of this price. Localities, therefore, 

 which have been able to make fair returns during the last three years 

 should be able to successfully meet future competition. 



It is evident that there is a good opportunity for apple production for 

 the wholesale market, provided that high-grade apples are groum. The 

 low-grade fruit returns a loss, not a profit. 



Those considering the planting of a commercial orchard, however, 

 should keep in mind the minimum size necessary for economical produc- 

 tion, nearness and type of road to shipping point, and the profitable em- 

 ployment of the operator's labor during the ten years an orchard is 

 developing. Specialists at the University of New Hampshire are recom- 

 mending the planting of not less than 500 trees. The operation of a co- 

 operative grading and packing plant would also make it possible for in- 

 dividual growers to market to better advantage. This would probably 

 require a production of 10,000 barrels in a community. Those starting 

 in the orchard business in a new territory should, therefore, encourage 

 the planting of trees in their community. In a study made throughout 

 the state of Massachusetts on the cost of marketing apples it was found 



