Locality and Site for the Commercial Orchard 119 



overcome in a measure the burden of heavy freight charges. 

 Thus two of the most extensive apple-growing regions in 

 the United States have developed in Washington, many 

 hundreds of miles from the primary apple markets. The 

 freight on apples from the Yakima and Wenatchee valleys 

 represents a very considerable item. Granting such no- 

 table exceptions, great distance from market must always 

 be viewed as a decided handicap. Losses incident to car 

 shortage, damage in shipment and difficulties due to long 

 range business transactions are always emphasized under 

 such conditions. Railroad facilities, advantages of com- 

 petitive systems, and the possibility of boat shipping are 

 worthy of careful consideration. 



Distance from shipping station. 



Improved roads and automobile trucks are making long 

 hauls more economical and yet the distance from the or- 

 chard to the shipping station is a most important factor 

 in determining the price of land. The investor can af- 

 ford to pay considerably more for orchard land near a 

 shipping station. Investigations in 1914 on 179 farms in 

 the Hood River Valley and in western Colorado indicate 

 that the average cost of hauling the shooks to the farm 

 and the packed fruit to the station represents approxi- 

 mately one cent a bushel for each mile. The cost to-day, 

 however, is about two cents. 



Taking this present figure in considering an orchard 

 yielding 225 bushels or 75 barrels to the acre, each addi- 

 tional mile in the distance from the shipping station 

 would' represent in these two items alone an annual cost of 

 $4.50 an acre, or $45 an acre where the distance was ten 

 miles. The cost of hauling other supplies has not been 



