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



There is an annual fire insurance on farm buildings, of which the 

 apple orchard bears a part. This charge amounts to very little — 

 $1.12 per acre for North Yakima, $0.42 per acre for Zillah, and $0.79 

 per acre, or $0.0018 per box, for all records. 



All fixed costs amounted to $156.95 per acre for North Yakima and 

 $64.35 per acre for Zillah, the great difference being due almost 

 entirely to the high land valuation in North Yakima. As will be seen 

 in Tables XLVI, XL VII, and XL VIII, the difference in this total 

 fixed cost does not vary greatly with the system of soil management. 

 For the 120 orchards considered in the valley the fixed costs per 

 acre were $113.73, or $0.2633 per box. The total material and 

 fixed costs for all orchards amounted to $241.08 per acre, or $0.5218 

 per box, for North Yakima, and $145.98 per acre, or $0.3668 per box, 

 for Zillah. In the former case they make up 61.87 per cent of the 

 total annual net cost of production, while in the latter case they 

 make up 49.40 per cent. 



For the 120 orchards studied in the valley there was a cost of 

 $196.67 for material and fixed costs or expenses other than labor, 

 or $0.4553 per box. This made up 56.89 per cent of the total annual 

 net cost of production. It is evident that the crop determines the 

 material cost to a certain degree, especially as regards the cost of 

 made-up boxes, which depends directly on the yield. In the case 

 of the fixed costs, though size of crop has no influence on the acre 

 cost, there is a great saving in cost per box as the yield increases. 

 That is, the fixed cost for a yield of 200 boxes is no less per acre than 

 in the case of a yield of 400 boxes, but is twice the amount per box 

 in the former as compared with the latter. 



TOTAL OF ALL COSTS. 



When the total of all costs for the 120 farms studied in the Yakima 

 Valley is considered, there is found to be an annual acre cost of 

 $345.68 per acre, or $0.8002 per box. This is figured on an average 

 annual yield of 432 boxes per acre. The two groups of costs which 

 go to make this up are the total net labor cost and the total material 

 and fixed cost, or costs other than labor. The net labor cost is $0.3449 

 per box, or 43.11 per cent of the total net cost of production, the net 

 maintenance making up 17.71 per cent, and the net handling cost 

 25.40 per cent. Material and fixed costs were $0.4553 per box, or 

 56.89 per cent of the total net cost, 23.99 per cent being material 

 cost and 32.90 per cent fixed cost. The greatest item of fixed cost 

 is the interest on investment, which made up 43.91 per cent of the 

 cost other than labor and 24.98 per cent of the total net annual cost. 



If the 120 orchards are separated into groups according to soil 

 management, 75 under the clean-cultural system and 45 under the 

 mulch-crop system, there is found to be a cost of $0.8041 per box for 



