368 The Commercial Apple Industry 



the Northwest are small and intensive has been due to the 

 system of land development. Cost of production in this 

 region is only kept within bounds by high average annual 

 yields. The farms of the East are more diversified and 

 with the same yield as in the Northwest orchards the cost 

 of production is very much less, due not only to a less fixed 

 cost an acre, but to a lower maintenance cost and a more 

 seasonable distribution of labor. It should be added, how- 

 ever, that very rarely do the yields in eastern orchards 

 equal those to the acre from the intensified irrigated or- 

 chards of the West. 



The size, type and diversification of the farm will de- 

 pend largely on the initial cost of the land, the adaptability 

 of other profitable crops, and acreage which has proved to 

 be the best economic unit in any particular community. 

 Conditions vary so widely in different districts that no 

 specific recommendations can be made. However, the ex- 

 perience of a community may always be depended on. 

 In every established community there are certain growers 

 or farmers whose success and methods stand out above 

 those of their neighbors. It is well to study the secret of 

 their success in farm management. Care should be taken 

 not to be misled by the very unusual or exceptional farm 

 which employs radically different methods. A particular 

 farm may be successful, either through the extraordinary 

 ability of its owner or through peculiar local conditions of 

 labor and transportation, or on account of a special mar- 

 ket. This success may not always be duplicated. A 



Under eastern conditions, it is usually better to depend 

 on a fair-sized farm, and endeavor to bring it above the 

 average, than to count on a very small acreage cultivated 

 intensively or on a very large acreage which requires 



