14 



BULLETIN 29, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGBICULTUBE. 



Based on the average number of men and horses employed on six 

 commercial peach orchards hi this section of West Virginia it is found 

 that the time of one man for one year is required to care for 2,500 

 trees, exclusive of the thinning and handling of fruit. This number of 

 trees would cover about 20 acres of land. On these same orchards it 

 would require the labor of one horse or mule to care for 2,300 trees, 

 making, on the average, more than one animal for each 20 acres. 



METHODS OF TRANSPORTATION. 



Peaches are shipped bj'" express or by freight in refrigerator cars in 

 carload lots. Table I shows the rates per hundredweight to some 

 market points from a station located in about the center of the region 

 investigated. 



Table I. — Freight and express rates per hundred pounds on peaches from a station in 

 West Virginia to various market points. 



Market. 



Rate per hundred- 

 weight. 



Market. 



Rate per hundred- 

 weight. 





Freight. 



Express. 1 



Freight. 



Express, i 



Washington, D . C 



$0.37 

 .37 



$0.50 



.50 



.50 



1.50 



1.00 



Philadelphia, Pa 



$0.42 



$0. 80 

 .75 

















.80 



New York, N. Y 



.42 













i The express rates quoted are for packages weighing 100 pounds and less. Rates for carload lots are less, 

 but the shipper will choose refrigerator cars when shipping in carload lots. 



Thomas, W. Va., and Cumberland, Md., are near-by towns that 

 have no transportation advantages as market points. 



COST OF EQUIPMENT. 



The average cost of equipment on several large orchards was found 

 to be, in terms of the area of the farm, about $30 per acre. Many 

 are equipped at much less cost. A great saving may be made where 

 companies of large capital construct very cheap cottages for summer 

 camps only. Such companies having orchards in different localities 

 of a section may shift then forces from one orchard to another when 

 needed, thus enabling them to economize in labor. In such cases the 

 total equipment need not cost over $15 to $20 per acre. 



On a 260-acre orchard the equipment consisted of 1 boarding house, 

 $900; 1 packing house, $900; 1 barn, $900; sleeping quarters for 40 

 men, $600; 3 tenant houses, $1,200; 3 sprayers, $750; 12 horses, 

 $2,400; implements and tools, $500; 4 wagons, $260; total, $8,410, 

 or $32.36 per acre. On a 400-acre orchard the equipment was 5 ten- 

 ant houses, $4,000; 10 packing sheds, $400; camp building, $1,000; 

 barn with water equipment, $1,000; 5 spraying outfits, $1,250; 16 

 mules, $3,200; 6 wagons, $390; harrows, plows, etc., $500; miscella- 

 neous tools, $150; total, $11,890, or $29.70 per acre. 



