COST OF PRODUCING APPLES IN YAKIMA VALLEY. 



11 



INVESTMENT. 



The average investment per ranch of the 120 ranches studied in the 

 Yakima Valley was $14,504.32, or $1,235.70 per acre. The areas in 

 proximity to North Yakima have the advantages of the city. In the 

 Nob Hill section, nearness to North Yakima, beautiful location, and 

 the numerous incidental advantages of such an ideal situation make 

 this acreage almost a prohibitive investment to one who must depend 

 solely upon the income from the apple business, for at the time of this 

 investigation merely the interest on such an investment amounted to 

 a large proportion of the total annual cost of apple production. How- 

 ever, many men with independent incomes, wishing to establish beau- 

 tiful homes under ideal conditions, bought small tracts of orchard and 



Fig. 2.— A community district school in the Tieton district, many miles from railroad. Such schools 

 are a product of progressive ranches and progressive ideas. They are a measure of rural social condi- 

 tions of the region. 



retired from active business life, expecting that the apple business 

 would give them fair incomes. Many did not then consider the inter- 

 est on their investment. Furthermore, prices then received for apples 

 were high and in many instances seemed to warrant the prices asked 

 for land. 



As far as location and climate are concerned, it would be difficult 

 to find in the Northwest apple-producing areas a region surpassing 

 Yakima Valley. 



Considering separately the 64 ranches in the North Yakima dis- 

 trict, the average investment per ranch of 10.79 acres is $15,639.29, 

 of which $7,525.78 is the estimated value of the bearing apple orchard 

 per ranch. This estimated value of the average apple orchard is 



