14 BULLETIN 614, IT. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



ORCHARDS. 



The largest orchard considered in the North Yakima district was 

 20 acres, the smallest 1 acre. The orchards from which records were 

 obtained under mulch-crop management averaged 4.52 acres, a little 

 smaller than the clean-cultivated, which average 5.49 acres. The 

 bearing apple orchard occupies about the same proportion of the 

 ranch under either system of .management. There is an average of 

 5.18 acres of bearing apple orchard' out of 10.79 acres per ranch on 

 the farms studied in the North Yakima district. 



In the Zillah district the orchards under mulch-crop management 

 average 7.85 acres, and clean-cultivated orchards average 7.70 

 acres. The bearing apple orchard occupies about the same propor- 

 tion of the ranch under either method of management. Consider- 

 ing all bearing orchards in the Zillah district, regardless of the 

 method of soil management, the average size is 7.77 acres out of an 

 average of 21.57 acres per ranch. 



The average bearing apple orchard of the valley, when all records 

 are considered, is 6.39 acres out of the average of 15.82 acres per 

 ranch. 



AGE. 



The average age of all orchards considered in this investigation 

 was 12.6 years. The clean-culture orchards average 12.73 years and 

 the mulch-crop orchards average 12.37. The average age of orchards 

 in the Zillah district was 12.54 years, while in the Yakima district 

 the average was 12.66. Trees in these districts, as in other North- 

 western apple-producing sections, may be considered as bearing at 

 7 years of age, and only orchards this old or older were considered 

 in this investigation. Practically all varieties will bear on an average 

 a box or more of marketable apples per year between the ages of 6 and 

 9. There were not yet in bearing 1,827 acres, or 58.24 per cent of the 

 total apple acreage in the Zillah district; in the Nob Hill area there 

 were 2,501 acres, or 62.89 per cent. The age of bearing orchards in 

 the Zillah district varies from 8 to 22 years, though generally there 

 seem to be two groups, those 8 to 12 years and those 18 to 22 years. 

 The younger orchards appear to be the best cared for and the most 

 profitable. , 



VARIETIES. 



Between 50 and 60 varieties are grown by the orchardists from 

 whom records were taken. The older orchards of the valley contain 

 such varieties as Monmouth, York Imperial, Twenty Ounce, Missouri, 

 and Ben Davis. As in other Northwest regions, earlier plantings 

 were made of varieties well known to the ranchers in their 

 home States. The small family orchards were the beginning of the 



