40 



BULLETIN" 614, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



previous to harvesting time, and second only to the cost of pruning, 

 which is 19.55 per cent. Considering all the records in the Yakima 

 district, the thinning cost is 13.81 per cent of the total gross labor 

 cost up to harvesting time, and in the Zillah district it is 23.22 per 

 cent. 



Table XXXII. — Cost of thinning in orchards in the Yakima Valley. 





Num- 

 ber of 

 rec- 

 ords. 



Aver- 

 age 

 num- 

 ber of 

 acres in 

 orch- 

 ard. 



Trees 

 per 

 acre. 



Man- 

 hours 

 per 

 acre. 



Cost. 



District. 



Per 

 acre. 



Per 

 tree. 



Per 

 box. 



Under clean-cultural management: 



43 

 32 

 75 



21 



24 

 45 



64 

 56 

 120 



5.49 

 7.70 

 6.44 



4.52 

 7.85 

 6.30 



5.18 

 7.77 

 6.39 



79.21 

 69.07 

 74.88 



76.26 

 67.03 

 71.33 



78.24 

 68.19 

 73.55 



37.34 

 72.43 

 52.31 



32.51 



55.04 

 44.53 



35.76 

 64.98 

 49.39 



S9.33 

 18.11 

 13.08 



8.13 

 13.76 

 11. 13 



8.94 

 16.24 

 12.35 



SO. 12 

 .26 

 .17 



.11 

 .21 

 .16 



.11 

 .24 

 .17 



SO. 0196 



Zillah 



.0430 





.0289 



Under mulch-crop management: 



.0187 



Zillah 



.0375 





.0280 



All orchards: 



.0190 



Zillah 



.0410 





.0286 











It would seem from Table XXXII that thinning is done more 

 thoroughly in the Zillah district than elsewhere in the vaUey. This 

 fact is borne out by the propping tables, winch show that propping 

 takes more time in the North Yakiina than in the Zillah district. 

 The men in the Zillah district thin as thoroughly as possible in order 

 to obviate a considerable amount of propping. 



The amount of thinning required on the clean-cultivated orchards 

 is more than that on the orchards under mulch-crop management. 

 No doubt this is due to the larger yield of the orchards under the 

 former method of management. 



Considering all orchards from which data were obtained in the 

 valley, an average of 49.39 man-hours is required for thinning, at a 

 cost of $12.35 per acre, or $0.0286 per box. 



PROPPING. 



Propping is an annual practice of 60 per cent of the orchardists 

 from whom records were obtained. It is governed to a great extent 

 by the amount of pruning and thinning done. Most of the orchardists 

 are beginning to make a more thorough thinning in order to obviate 

 the necessity of so much propping. This, as has been noted, is 

 especially true in the Zillah district. The cost of thinning for the 

 Zillah district is more than twice as large as that for the North Yakima 

 district, but the cost of propping is much lower. It was found that 

 75 per cent of the orchardists under consideration in the North 

 Yakima district practice some propping each year, but only 43 per 

 cent followed the practice in the Zillah district. 



