COST OF PRODUCTION OF APPLES, PAYETTE VALLEY, IDAHO. 21 

 Table IX. — Credit derived from mulch crop on farms studied in Payette Valley, Idaho. 





Per acre. 



Net credit 

 per box. 



Number of records. 



Cost of 

 harvesting. 



Hay credit. 



Pasture 

 credit. 



Total 

 credit. 



Net credit. 



22 '. 



$1.87 



So. 21 



S3. 06 



SO. 27 



S7.40 



80. 022 







IRRIGATION. 



In the Fruitland district there are two important irrigation projects. 

 One is the Noble ditch, watering about 6,000 acres, with an average 

 maintenance fee of but little over $1 per acre per year. This was 

 organized in 1894 and receives its water from the Payette River. 

 The higher land in the south Payette district is watered by the 

 Farmers' Cooperative ditch, which is a large project embracing about 

 13,000 acres. It taps the Payette River at Emmett, farther up the 

 stream than the opening of the Noble ditch. The maintenance charges 

 for this ditch are from SI. 50 to $2 per acre per year; the water from 

 it is turned on about the first of May. 



In the region north of Payette, or the Woodspur section, are found 

 districts known, respectively, as the Lower Payette district and Pay- 

 ette Heights. The former comprises the greater acreage. The Payette 

 ditch furnishes water at a low maintenance cost which will average 

 about $0.50 per acre per year. In order to water the Payette Heights, 

 it has been necessary in many cases to install pumping plants to lift 

 the water up to the higher lands. This makes the cost of irrigating 

 very much higher than that on lands watered by a gravity flow. 

 In many cases it is $6 to $7 per acre per year for the water delivered 

 on the land. For the most part the water is conducted in open 

 ditches or flumes, and piping systems are not common. It is neces- 

 sary to irrigate all orchards in tins region, as the annual rainfall is 

 not sufficient to sustain the trees. On ah average 4.7 irrigations 

 are made annually on the 38 orchards studied in the valley, the 

 mulch-crop orchardists averaging 5.18 irrigations, while the clean 

 cultural average 4.06. In the case of the clean-cultivated orchards, 

 the first irrigation usually is made during the latter part of May or 

 the first of June, and the last during the latter part of August. These 

 irrigations are made at regular intervals during this period. (See 

 Table X.) 



Table X. — Average number of irrigations and practices for farms studied in Payette 



Valley, Idaho. 





Number of 

 irrigations. 



Average 

 man hours 

 per irriga- 

 tion. 



Total 

 man hours 

 for all irri- 

 gations. 



Cost per 



acre per 



irrigation. 



Cost per 

 acre for all 

 irrigations. 



Cost per 

 box for all 

 irrigations. 





4.06 

 5.18 

 4; 71 



2.434 

 1.725 

 1.983 



9.88 

 8. 94 

 9.34 



10. 4S6 

 .345 

 .398 



SI. 98 

 1.79 

 1.87 



SO. 00."9 





.^53 











