COST OP PRODUCING APPLES IN YAKIMA VALLEY. 71 



The equipment charge for the Zillah ranches was $6.52 per acre, 

 while for those of North Yakima it was $9.07. The relatively higher 

 cost for North Yakima is attributable to the fact that the farms there 

 are small, necessitating a comparatively heavy equipment per acre. 

 A 25 per cent annual charge was used for equipment in this region. 

 This charge is divided as follows: 11 per cent, depreciation; 8 per 

 cent, interest; 5 per cent, upkeep; 1 per cent, taxes. 



This equipment charge is naturally more or less an arbitrary figure. 

 It is impossible to tell just how much equipment is used on the 

 orchard and just what percentage should be the equipment charge; 

 also the equipment of many growers depreciates much more rapidly 

 than that of others. Available data from this and other western 

 apple-growing regions indicate that there is an average charge of fully 

 25 per cent for the equipment found on the average apple farm. 



In addition to the regular equipment charge, there is another charge 

 of like nature, namely, the spray rig hire. In many orchards of the 

 valley those growers who do not have a rig have to hire their spraying 

 done. This cost, when prorated over all records, amounted to $1.94 

 per acre for the North Yakima ranches and $0.64 per acre for those 

 of Zillah, the difference reflecting the fact that a greater proportion 

 of growers in North Yakima hired their spraying done than in Zillah. 

 This charge is included under fixed costs, as it merely goes to make 

 up the lack of equipment charge on those orchards which do not 

 have a spray rig. Thus, for the 120 records, there is a spray rig hire 

 of $1.33 per acre, or $0.0031 per box. If this regular equipment 

 charge and spray rig hire are added together, forming what might 

 be termed a total equipment charge, there is found to be an acre 

 cost for all records of $9.21, or $0.0214 per box. 



The land tax rate, as in many other Northwestern districts, is 

 very high as compared to Eastern farming districts. For the farms 

 studied in the North Yakima district it was $14.60 per acre, or 

 $0.0316 per box, while for the Zillah district it was $6.84 per acre 

 or $0.0172 per box. The high tax rate lor North Yakima is due 

 largely to the locality, much of the fruit being located on Nob Hill, 

 where land has a high valuation due to its residential advantages. 

 The cost of all taxes amounts to $10.98 per acre, or $0.0254 per box. 



The water tax or rent is much higher in North Yakima than in 

 Zillah, since many of the Zillah orchards are on the Konowak ditch 

 and have free water right. The water rent amounted to $3.10 per 

 acre for the North Yakima farms and $0.86 per acre for Zillah. The 

 water rent for the 120 orchards was $2.06, or nearly $0,005 per box. 

 As will be seen from Tables XL VI, XL VII and XLVIII, the water 

 rent was higher in all cases in the mulch-crop orchards. This is not 

 due to the orchards being in mulch crop, but to the fact that they 

 happened to be situated in the more expensive irrigation districts. 



