Cost of Production 359 



of years the crop failures would greatly reduce the average 

 returns. 



In considering the marginal regions it is necessary to 

 recognize that in a period of low prices they will be the 

 first to suffer in the process of elimination. 



Only systematic and careful analysis of the factors en- 

 tering into and influencing the cost of production will 

 indicate which region will survive and which will fail. 

 Growers have made profitable returns on orchard land at 

 $1,000 to $2,000 an acre in some regions, while others have 

 failed on $100 land in other places. 



Cost production varies not only among regions, but 

 among individual growers of the same district. It has 

 been found that it costs some growers 50 per cent more a 

 barrel or box to harvest their crop than it does their more 

 alert neighbors. Some operations, such as spraying, thin- 

 ning and proper soil management, are exceedingly profit- 

 able within certain limits. Without reliable information, 

 the grower can not tell what operations are paying him 

 best on the investment. Often the most expensive opera- 

 tions are the most profitable. 



Cost production figures reveal the regions which are 

 best adapted to the commercial production of apples, em- 

 phasize the value and relative importance of different cul- 

 tural methods, show the size of orchard which the grower 

 can operate most economically, indicate the most profitable 

 varieties, and in short reveal all of the best principles in 

 orchard selection and management. 



The factors which enter into the cost of production are 

 divided into labor costs and costs other than labor. 



The labor costs include both man and horse labor and are 



