378 



The Commercial Apple Industry 



The northwestern grower covers a less number of acres 

 a day with each cultivating tool than does the eastern 

 grower. This is partly explained by the fact that there 

 are practically twice as many trees to the acre in the irri- 

 gated sections, thus necessitating more care than in the 

 East. The orchards in the irrigated sections are often 

 inter-planted with shade crops as alfalfa, and in such cases 

 operations like plowing and discing necessarily require 

 considerable time and labor. 



Thinning. 



The practice of thinning varies so greatly that a study 

 of the extent and cost of this operation in several different 

 regions will be of particular interest. 



Table XXIII. — Thinning Practices and Costs 



A sharp contrast is brought out when the average amount 

 of thinning in such regions as western New York is com- 

 pared with the heavy thinning in the Northwest in such 

 districts as Wenatchee Valley. The average New York 

 grower expends only 4 hours an acre in thinning his apple 

 crop. The average Wenatchee grower devotes 53 hours 

 labor to the acre in thinning, but when the cost of this 



