COMMERCIAL ORCHARDING IN WEST VIRGINIA. 



19 



The costs in commercial peach orcharding, as shown in the tables, 

 are higher than the estimates given by most orchardists in this section. 

 The estimates given by experienced orchardists are no doubt approxi- 

 mately correct for their particular conditions. Few orchardists, 

 however, do as thorough cultivation and spraying as is assumed in 

 working out the unit costs given in the tables. Some orchards on 

 chert land have not yet been sprayed at the age of 8 to 10 years. 



Based on such records as could be had and on estimates given by 

 managers the average cost per tree per year for routine operating 

 expenses in this section is about 37 cents. The cost of thinning, pick- 

 ing, packing, and loading on cars the average distance from market 

 is about 18 cents per basket. 



In some orchard districts it has been found that the returns bear 

 a close relationship to the expense of production, i. e., increased cost 

 of production within certain limits stands for increased efficiency and 

 a corresponding increase in returns. 



The estimates given for the cost of bringing the orchard to the bear- 

 ing stage through a period of four years vary from 75 cents to $1.50 

 per tree. On the basis of common methods of caring for the orchard 

 through this period, the cost would average about 80 cents per tree 

 on smooth land and about $1 per tree on chert lands. The figures 

 given in Table II are based on the most thorough and approved meth- 

 ods of management, while these lower estimates are based on the 

 methods found in more common practice. 



HISTORY OF YIELDS OP REPRESENTATIVE ORCHARDS. 



Table III gives the actual yields on several of the large commercial 

 orchards in representative sections of this region. 



Table III. — Yields of seven large commercial peach orchards in West Virginia. 



Orchard No. 



Number 

 of trees. 



Number of 

 baskets. 



Failures. 



Periods of 

 bearing. 



Price per 

 basket. 



Soil. 



1 



9,000 

 8,000 

 30,000 

 17,000 

 15,000 

 30,000 

 35,000 



18, 757 

 9,363 



63,978 

 116,000 

 191,500 



52,000 



95,000 



None 



...do 



1910 to 1912 

 do 



$0.52 

 .67 

 .72 

 .69 

 .74 

 .69 

 .67 



Red. 



2 





3 





do 



Red. 



4 



1 year 



...do 



1908 to 1911 



1905 to 1912 



do 



Do. 



5 



Chert. 



6 



Do. 



7 



...do 



1912 



Do. 







Taking the above figures as a basis for computing the average yield 

 per tree it is found that each tree may be expected to bear 1.24 

 baskets per tree during the crop years. On the basis of the above 

 history and the estimates given by growers of long experience in this 

 region it would be safe to count on eight crops of peaches during the 

 life of the orchard. This would give an average of about 10 baskets 

 of peaches per tree for the life period of the orchard. The better 



