BULLETIN OF THE 



No. 29 



Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry, Wm. A. Taylor, Chief 

 November 21, 1913. 



CREW WORK, COSTS, AND RETURNS IN COMMER- 

 CIAL ORCHARDING IN WEST VIRGINIA. 



By J. H. Arnold, 

 Agriculturist, Offi.ce of Farm Management. 



INTRODUCTION. 



One of the most highly developed enterprises illustrating the prin- 

 ciples of farm management is that of commercial orcharding. There 

 is a lack of concrete data available to the public, however, on the costs 

 of various operations connected with orcharding, as well as the net 

 returns which may be expected in a series of years under varying 

 conditions. Also there is a lack of specific information in regard to 

 the organization of labor en fruit farms, the rate of work for each 

 operation, and the kind and number of operations necessary to insure 

 success. 



Like every other business enterprise it must be recognized that the 

 cost of operations, labor units, and standards of labor in the orchard 

 vary with conditions, the principal determining factors being land 

 features, such as soil, topography, climate, distance to shipping point, 

 and markets. Those interested in orcharding as a practical business 

 enterprise should know what these cost units and standards of labor 

 ought to be under these specified conditions when directed by a 

 trained and experienced manager, as well as to know the results of 

 average experiences. Such data enable one to measure his success 

 along any one of these lines and they also furnish a scientific basis for 

 calculating the profits that might reasonably be expected in orcharding. 



The writer has attempted in this bulletin to summarize and analyze 

 the experiences in orchard management of individuals who have been 

 pioneers in the development of this industry in a region which 

 undoubtedly has many favorable locations for profitable fruit raising. 

 This region lies in the drainage basin of the Potomac River in West 

 Virginia. It is intended to interpret the orchard management 

 achieved by these pioneers in a way to assist them in its further 

 development and to enable others to profit by the results of past 

 experience. 



9680°— 13 1 



