364 The Commercial Apple Industry 



or overhead cost an acre once established can only be met 

 successfully by increased yields. 



Keturning to maintenance, it is found that these costs 

 are generally somewhat higher an acre in the high yield- 

 ing than in the low yielding orchards due to more thorough 

 work, although it is obvious that a dormant spray on a 

 low yielding orchard is about as expensive as that on a 

 productive planting. The maintenance costs on the high- 

 est yielding orchards in Hood River were only $18.00 more 

 an acre than on the lowest ones, and yet the saving a box in 

 the case of the former on account of increased yields rep- 

 resented 300 per cent when figured on the box basis. 

 The foregoing principles, although demonstrated by ex- 

 amples from Hood River, Oregon, are applicable to all 

 regions of the United States, whether producing boxed or 

 barreled apples. They demonstrate how and why yields 

 are the all important factor in successfully lowering cost of 

 production. 



INFLUENCE OF SIZE OF OECHAED 



The size of the orchard is another important factor in 

 determining cost. Given the same acre yield, the larger 

 the acreage the less the cost of production a unit. Inves- 

 tigations have shown, however, that beyond a certain 

 acreage the yield decreases more rapidly than does the 

 acre cost of production, thereby making the cost a box 

 or barrel higher than in the small orchards. In other 

 words, the decrease in the maintenance, fixed and material 

 cost an acre is often more than offset by the decrease in 

 yield. 



In Table XVII, which refers to Hood River, a slight in- 

 crease is seen in cost a box as the size of the orchard in- 



