March. 19341 



Studies in Economics of Apple Orcharding 



fusing to many people insofar as it relates to the grower's return on the 

 tree. 



Thus, a certain lot of fancy apples of the 1928 crop finally sold for 

 $3.03 per box. The selling expense, storage, commission, transportation, 

 was $.717 per box. The packing house charges for grading, packing, con- 

 tainers, etc., were $.65^4 per box. These two items taken from the price 

 leave approximately $1.66 per box on basis of delivery at the packing 

 plant. An estimate of $.20 for harvesting and hauling to plant would 

 leave approximately $1.46 on the tree. 



In the receipts per farm for apples as given in Table 4, returns in the 

 majoritv of cases included the box and packing charges, but not the trans- 

 portation, storage and commission. In two instances the cost of packing 

 is not included because the fruit was sold either through a co-operative 

 association, which furnished these materials and services and made a re- 

 turn for the ungraded fruit at the door of the packing plant, or it was 

 sold in one grade and without the package. In three cases the growers 

 provided their own storage. 



Table 4 — Total gross returns, total estimated easts of harvesting and marketing, and 



estimated returns per bushel on tree by years. Expense of grading and 



packing a portion of the erop is estimated from labor records. 



On some farms apples were not graded or packed. 



* See New Hampshire Expt. Sta. BuU. 2.57. p. H. 



If we consider the seven farms which were in the study continuously 

 for three years, the receipts from ap])les in 1926, 1927, and 1928, were 

 $4,843, $8,737, and $6,474, respectively. This rather wide deviation is 

 somewhat typical of the specialized apple business. The management 

 problem, after a poor income year is rather serious. There is a tendency 

 to hold down the operations in the following year. This is in the main 

 good practice providing the economy does not proceed to the point of 

 withholding essential fertilizer or spray material. A study of the income 

 from apples on individual farms shows considerable variation per box 

 due to method of selling. The time of selling was a factor in 1928. 



In the three years a total of $73,849 was taken in for sales other than 

 apples by the farms under study. This amounts to $2,282 per farm per 

 year. Three sales items — small fruit, poultry, and milk — each averaged 

 over $400 per farm. 



