14 BULLETIN 446, U. S. DEPAETME^STT OP AGEICULTUEE. 



Of the 87 ranchers from whom records were taken, 49, or 56 per cent 

 of the total number, appHed each year the httle manure produced on 

 the place. This amounted to about 4 tons per acre, which was usually 

 apphed directly from the wagon by one man with two horses, covering 

 1.44 acres in 10 hours. This is not efficient work as compared with 

 results on farms where large quantities of manure are handled annually. 

 This inefficiency may be due in part to difficulty of spreading manure 

 in orchards planted very closely together, but it can be more generally 

 attributed to the fact that the manure is not apphed during a rush 

 season, hence the grower takes his time. Where all records are con- 

 sidered, regardless of crew or method of handling, there is an average 

 labor cost for applying manure of $2.27 per acre. 



PRUNING. 



Pruning is an annual practice of all orchardists in the valley. It is 

 usually done during the dormant condition of the tree, in the late fall 

 or early spring. However, some men practice summer pruning ; if so, 

 it is generally done as a supplement to winter pruning. 



There are many factors that influence the number of trees that may 

 be pruned in 10 hours. The more important of these are the age of 

 the tree, the variety and habit of growth, the height and shape of the 

 tree, the distance apart, the efficiency and skill of the pruner, the 

 previous method of pruning, and the amount of work to be done. 



Considering the average number of trees per acre as 81 and 19.3 

 trees as the average number of trees pruned per 10-hour day, there 

 will be an annual charge of 40.31 man-hours per acre, or a cost of 

 $10.08. 



HAULING BRUSH. 



In connection with the aimual pruning of the orchard, the dispo- 

 sition of the brush takes more or less time. This operation is usually 

 done either by two men and two horses or by one man and two horses. 

 (See Table IX.) 



The brush is often gathered in the center of the tree rows at the time 

 of pruning or after pruning. This makes it much easier to handle the 

 brush quickly. As a general rule, however, a crew of two men and 

 two horses with a wagon wiU pass between the tree rows, the men 

 gathering the brush on either side of the wagon, and hauling it to some 

 convenient place and burning it, either at once or later in the season 

 when the brush has dried. The trees are so young and the pruning 

 generally has been so well done that there is a very small amount of 

 large wood, so that practically very little trimming up of the pruned 

 wood is necessary. 



Considering the number of man-hours and horse-hours required 

 for this operation, and assuming that the amount of brush was the 

 same in each mstance, it appears from Table IX that the most econom- 



