32 N. H. Agricultural Experiment Station [Bulletin 279 



season of employment on the apple crop. The' owners of large orchards 

 often sell to better advantage than small growers. Their trade-marks are 

 known on the markets. Co-operative selling sometimes eliminates this 

 difference. If buying is done independently, the large grower will benefit 

 considerably, but co-operative buying of fertilizer and spray material is 

 very general. 



The operation of a large orchard involves capabilities not needed on the 

 small unit. It requires ability to organize the work for a large crew and 

 to handle help ef^ciently. The man who does not have this capacity will 

 earn more with a small orchard. His risks will be definitely less. The in- 

 vestment necessary to develop a large orchard, or even to operate it for 

 one season, is considerable. Lack of funds may limit the size of the en- 

 terprise. While within the district there may be much suitable land for 

 orcharding, in individual cases the necessary site for an extensive plant- 

 ing may be lacking. 



If one depends on fruit alone for an income, the minimum unit will be 

 one which in an average year will yield what the operator considers to be 

 a reasonable income, and one which he can handle with convenience. Few 

 men will be content with the income from less than 15 to 20 acres of 

 apples, on the basis of yields obtained in the eastern United States. From 

 this the size will range up to several hundred acres, depending on the 

 ambition, qualifications and resources of the owner. 



Three permanent skilled workers with 16 HP spray outfit and day help 

 to drive a supply truck should be able to cover 100 acres of mature 

 orchard. Each of the skilled men would have 800 to 900 trees to prune 

 each year and this would take up all the available time. 



As an adjunct to other business the lower limit of size of orchard that 

 may be practical to operate will doubtless hinge largely on spraying equip- 

 ment. Although a certain advantage is lost by having no other alternative, 

 generally the fruit can be sold at harvest time without grading and pack- 

 ing with expensive equipment. 



Few men care to work with hand sprayers. The investment in a small 

 power sprayer is fairly high per tree in an orchard of five or six acres, 

 and-in a three-acre orchard of about 75 mature trees the annual overhead 

 per tree for spraying equipment would doubtless be $.75 or more. On the 

 other hand, if the farmer hires no additional help in order to care for 

 these trees beyond that which he would have employed anyway, his time 

 may be discounted considerably. It may still be better to own and operate 

 even the three-acre orchard than not to. Then there is the possibility for 

 the ingenious man to assemble a sprayer very cheaply, using an engine 

 and possibly other parts already on the farm. 



A very important consideration with reference to the small orchard is 

 the skill and knowledge needed. Orcharding is a specialized business, and 

 success will be attained only by the man who has the time, inclination and 

 ability to master its problems. There is a general tendency to neglect 

 orchards which are too small to represent a considerable risk or income. 



