374 



The Commercial Apple Industry 



season. General farming permits the employment of 

 month labor at a lower wage than must be paid for day 

 labor. On the other hand, labor in general farming com- 

 munities is not likely to be as skilled as where apple-grow- 

 ing is the most important industry. The efficiency of 

 labor is an important factor in the cost of production. 



OBCHABD MAINTENANCE 



Labor is the most important item in orchard mainte- 

 nance, which involves such operations as pruning, culti- 

 vating, thinning and spraying. It will be seen from the 

 following table that maintenance labor costs vary widely 

 in different regions according to the intensity of the cul- 

 tural practices. 



Table XX \ 



Maintenance Labor Cost in Seven Important Apple Eeoions 



Region. 



Hours per Acre. 



Man. Horse. 



Costi 



of 

 labor. 



Packed 



Yield 



per 



acre. 



Cost 



per 



bushel. 



Western New York 



Yakima Valley 



Wenatchee Valley 



Hood River 



Southern Idaho 



Western Colorado 



California (Watsonville Dist.) 



77 

 214 

 230 

 142 

 177 

 161 



89 



91 

 96 



82 

 72 

 76 

 54 



$49.70 

 134.30 

 143.80 



88.51 

 110.10 

 103.30 



60.70 



252 bu. 

 432 bx. 

 593 " 

 320 " 

 337 " 

 284 " 

 226 " 



$.197 

 .311 

 .242 

 .277 

 .327 

 .364 

 .269 



i Man labor rates in these regions varied from 40 to 50 cents an 

 hour while horse labor was figured at about 30 cents an hour. 



The above table is a summary of the maintenance labor 

 costs on approximately 700 commercial apple orchards in 

 various parts of the United States. Detailed orchard 



