12 



BULLETIN 614, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



52.57 per cent of the total investment. A greater valuation per acre 

 was reported for ranches on which orchards are under mulch-crop 

 than for those under clean-culture management. This is due prima- 

 rily to location, land values being as a rule higher in the Nob Hill sec- 

 tion, where more of the orchards are in a mulch crop, than in the Fruit- 

 vale or Broadway localities, where clean cultivation is practiced by 

 nearly all orchardists from whom data were obtained. (See Table V.) 



Table V. — Average size of ranch and bearing orchard and average investment per ranch 

 and per acre for 64 ranches in North Yakima district. 



Item. 



Method of culture. 



Clean. Mulch-crop. Combined. 



Number of records 



Average acreage per ranch: 



Total 



In bearing apple orchard 



Average investment per ranch: 



Total : 



Land and improvement 



In bearing apple orchard 



Equipment 



Average investment per acre apple orchard: 



Total 



Equipment 



Per cent value apple orchard is of total investment per ranch : 



11.96 



5.49 



$16,329.71 



$15, 695. 12 



$7, 70S. 14 



$335. 88 



$1,469.77 



$33. 11 



51.00 



8.40 

 4.52 



$14,225.57 

 $13, 532. 00 

 $7. 152. 38 



,657.14 



$39. 12 



55.79 



10.79 

 5.18 



$15, 639. 29 



$14,985.34 



$7, 525. 78 



$342. 97 



$1, 531. 25 



$35. 08 

 52.57 



1 Average of percentage figures for the individual ranches. 



The Z ill ah district presents a somewhat different aspect. It is 

 located in the lower valley, which is not quite as highly specialized 

 an apple-producing area as the North Yakima district. The ranches 

 are larger, and, although more diversified, the raising of the apple is 

 the chief ranch enterprise. The homes of the ranchers here are not so 

 pretentious as those of the Nob Hill section, but the people enjoy all 

 the advantages of an up-to-date rural community and have good 

 train service to the city of North Yakima. 



For the 56 ranches studied in the Zillah district the average invest- 

 ment per ranch of 21.57 acres is $13,207.21, of which $4,409.20 is the 

 estimated value of 7.77 acres of bearing apple orchard per ranch. The 

 value of the bearing apple orchard is 37.23 per cent of the total invest- 

 ment. (See Table VI.) 



These investments are high in comparison with many of the farms 

 in the Eastern apple-producing regions, but they are not exorbitant 

 as compared with those of other Western and Northwestern apple- 

 producing regions. (See Table VII.) 



