12 BULLETIN 636, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



AGE OF ORCHARD. 



The orchards in the Fruitland and Woodspur districts near Payette 

 average nearly 15 years in age. There were many early plantings, 

 but these were confined to very limited areas. Some of the older 

 orchards are found in the vicinity of New Plymouth, but they are 

 scattered widely. Many of the older orchards are neglected. 



INVESTMENT IN ORCHARDS. 



The average investment per acre in the orchards of the Payette 

 district is much less than that of some other fruit regions. (See 

 Table II.) This is due to the fact that Payette Valley is not as favor- 

 ably located as some other regions in regard to transportation and is 

 in a general farming region which has been developed along non- 

 speculative lines. 



Fig. 6.— A 5-year-old Delicious orchard near Boise. Note the habit of growth and size of these trees. This 

 grower believes in little pruning for young trees of this sort. 



The average investment in bearing apple orchards is $613.16 per 

 acre, and the average equipment investment is $20.50 per acre. 

 This includes only machinery and orchard equipment. The bearing 

 apple orchard represents 37.16 per cent of the total farm investment 

 and 40.55 per cent of the total land and improvement investment. 

 There is a comparatively small acreage of young apples not yet in 

 bearing on these 38 farms, and few apples are now being planted. 

 There is, however, a large acreage in other fruits, especially prunes. 



VARIETIES. 



Many varieties of apples are grown commercially in the Payette 

 Valley, but the leading of these is the Jonathan, which usually 

 brings a good price but has the disadvantage of being suscepti- 

 ble to blight and mildew. This is followed by the Winesap. 

 Others of commercial importance are the Rome Beauty, Ben Davis, 

 and Arkansas Black, Varieties that formerly were planted very 



