COST OF PRODUCING APPLES IN YAKIMA VALLEY. 69 



MATERIAL COSTS. 



The first item of material is the manure. As will be seen, the 

 clean-cultural orchards applied the more manure. This is as would be 

 expected, as the mulch-crop adds humus to the soil and manure 

 usually is not needed so badly on those orchards as on the others. 

 On the clean-cultural orchards 4 tons were applied per acre in North 

 Yakima and 6.8 tons in Z^llah, or 5.21 tons for the 75 clean-cultural 

 orchards studied in the entire valley. On the mulch-crop orchards 

 3.38 tons were applied in North Yakima and 4.11 tons in Zillah, 

 making an average of 3.77 tons per acre for the 45 mulch-crop orchards 

 studied in the valley. If the mulch-crop and clean-cultural orchards 

 are combined (120 records), there is found to be an average of 4.67 

 tons applied per acre. This manure is charged at the rate of $1.50 

 per ton for the entire district. There was, then, a cost of $7.01 per 

 acre for manure for the entire Yakima Valley, or $0.0162 per box. 

 The cost for the clean-cultural orchards was $7.82 and for the mulch 

 crop $5.66 per acre. 



The spray material is one of the principal items of material costs. 

 This includes the lime-sulphur, arsenate of lead, and any other spray 

 materials which are used. For all records, lime-sulphur, figured at 

 the rate of $0.15 per gallon, cost $6.03 per acre, while other spray 

 materials amounted to $6.18 per acre; thus all spray materials 

 amounted to $12.21 per acre, or $0.0283 per box, making up 6.21 

 per cent of the material and fixed costs. The spray-material cost 

 for the districts of North Yakima and Zillah is shown in Tables 

 XLVI and XL VII. 



Arsenate of lead paste had been charged at the rate of $0.09 per 

 pound. Another item of material cost, amounting to very little in 

 the total and appearing only on the mulch-crop orchards, is the seed 

 used for mulch-crop. Usually this is clover, alfalfa, or sweet-clover 

 seed, and is sown only occasionally. The annual charge for this 

 amounts to but $0.33 per acre for the 45 mulch-crop records in the 

 valley, or when distributed over the 120 orchards, including the clean- 

 culture records, it amounts to but $0.12 per acre. 



The gasoline and oil charge is used here in addition to the regular 

 upkeep of the spray rig. This gasoline charge for all records in the 

 valley amounted to $0.83 per acre, or $0.0019 per box. It is arrived 

 at by allowing one pint per horsepower for each hour that the spray 

 rig is used in the bearing orchard. 



The cost of made-up box is $0.1453. This includes the shook, 

 paper, nails, and the work of making it up, divided as follows : 



Shook SO. 1050 



Making up 0065 



Nails 0056 



Paper, including lining and wrapping 0282 



Total §0. 1453 



