576 FRUIT CULTUEE IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 



(dry cow-duug), 1,000 kilograms; or pigeon-dung, giiano, or bones, 300 

 kilograms. 



From the above data it appears that the following mixture may ad- 

 vantageously be applied to each hectare thus cropped : 



Kilograms. 



Manure 30,000 



Ground bones 600 



Seasalt 300 



Yield and cost. — The yield of the orange tree, admitting all other con- 

 ditions to be equal, must necessarily vary according to age and species. 

 In Castellon the product is stated at from 400 to 500 oranges per tree 

 at ten years old, but full productivity is not reached before from six- 

 teen to twenty years. In Valencia the product per hectare is given at 

 15,000 kilograms, equivalent to about 107,000 oranges, allowing about 

 140 kilograms per 1,000. Very large single trees, of course, give occa- 

 sionally extraordinary yields. There are in Mairena del Alcon (province 

 of Seville) two colossal trees known as " Los Migueletes," of which 

 each has been known to yield up to 38,000 orange.s in one year. Large 

 and robust trees having attained their full growth frequently yield from 

 2,000 to 5,000 each, but in planting on a large scale, from 800 to 1,000 

 per tree is all that can be assumed as a fair average yield. In the dis- 

 trict of Seville the product of an orchard of full-grown trees is reckoned 

 at 180 cases, worth on the ground about 10 pesos ($1.93) per case. The 

 cost of exploitation is summed up approximately as follows : 



Pesos per 

 hectare. 



Rent of gronntl ; also interest and aniortizatioTi of working capital invested . . 500 



Irrigation (raising water, usually by animal-power) HO 



Manure (34,000 kilograms) 272 



Hoeing, weeding, pruning, and harvesting 2.'i0 



Plowing (with oxen usually) 90 



Proportion of cost of keeping one horse' or mule for hauling 70 



Sundries and unforeseen expenses 60 



Total exi)ense8 annually 1, 322 



Taking gross product as above at 1,800 



Leaving net profit 478 



From which, however, an impost of 20 per cent, must be deducted, 

 leaving the grower, therefore, 382.40 pesos per hectare (equal to $29.87 

 per acre) as final net income. Calculating the total annual cost of cul- 

 tivation at 1 ,500 pesos per hectare, this represents a return of something 

 over 25 per cent, on the rolling capital thus employed. The total yield 

 of the orange and lemon orchards in Spain was (in 1879) estimated at 

 119,437,439 kilograms, which, at the rate of 12 pesos per 100 kilograms, 

 gi^'es a total value of 14,332,492 pesos, and the area cultivated was 

 given as 8,362 hectares. The rate of 12 pesos per 100 kilograms is a low 

 one, and is, moreover, only applicable to the fruit in the orchards, before 

 packing and transportation expenses have been incurred. There seems 



