COST OF PRODUCTION OF APPLES, PAYETTE VALLEY, IDAHO. 



9 



is 53.39 acres, with 11.33 acres in bearing apples. This is a much 

 higher percentage of orchard land than would be found by taking 

 all the farms in the valley. The farms about Fruitland are very 

 largely specialized fruit farms, and in many cases the acreage is made 

 up wholly of fruit. In the somewhat outlying districts, which were 

 settled more recently and irrigated, the type of agriculture is much 

 more general. 



The community as a whole may be considered a staple farming 

 community, as there are enough of various farming enterprises to 

 insure the success of at least a portion of the ranchers each year. 

 Dairy farms, of which there are a number in this region, are organ- 



Fig. 5.— A farmstead scene on one of the higher bench lands. Owing to difficulty in irrigating and the 

 high cost of water, some of these settlers have had to economize in order to retain their land. 



ized on the basis of raising all the feed to be used on the place. On 

 most of the dairy farms considerable hay and grain are sold.. (See 

 fig. 4.) Nearly all the fruit growers keep at least some stock, those 

 with mulch-crop orchards keeping the greater number. Nearly 

 every rancher raises hogs for home use and several for sale. The 

 growers also raise garden truck, potatoes, etc., for home use, so that 

 the farm contributes a very large percentage of the products used 

 by the occupants. 



Tributary to this region are large stock-grazing areas. Much of 

 the land recently irrigated is devoted to raising alfalfa. (See fig. 5.) 

 Raising clover and alfalfa seed is also an important and profitable 

 branch of farming found here. As might be expected, the more 

 intensive type of farming is found near the towns, where the fruit 

 19461°— IS— Bull. 636 -2 



