COST OF PRODUCING APPLES IN YAKIMA VALLEY. 21 
Regardless of the orchard management, a crew of one man and two 
horses will cover 1.10 acres in 10 hours, applying 6.12 tons per acre 
at a cost of $14.19 for labor and material. 
Considering all records, regardless of method of applying or crew 
used, there is a charge of 7.40 man-hours and 13.00 horse-hours per 
acre or a labor cost of $3.80 and material cost for 4.67 tons of $7.01, 
making a total manure cost of $10.81 per acre. 
PRUNING. 
Pruning is an annual practice of all orchardists throughout the 
valley. It is usually done during the winter and early spring, when 
the trees are still dormant. The ranchers, members of their families, 
or the regular hired help do most of the pruning, but a few have this 
work done by contract labor. 
The majority of growers prune heavily every year. Some do the 
heavy pruning in the years when a big crop is expected, lessening to 
a great extent the amount of labor and cost necessary for thinning 
and propping. However, the practice of heavy pruning preceding a 
large crop does not hold true in all instances. Pruning is really 
another method of thinning, although even with careful pruning it is 
usually necessary to do a certain amount of thinning. The amount of 
pruning also has a bearing on the health and vigor of the individual 
tree. Very few orchardists make a practice of summer pruning. 
TacLe XIV.—Cost of pruning 1m orchardsin Yakima Valley. 
| Aver- Cost. 
age Trees | Man- 
Num- | num- | Trees E : 
District. ber of | berof | per eyeraee ae nee hours | 
records)|/acres || acre. |) "8°" "|i cure | ee, |) Per | Per |) Per 
in or- Wy ACL@ess acres. |). trees 1s box: 
chard : 
Under clean-cultural man- 
agement: 
‘North Yakima. ........- 43| 5.49| 79.21| 12.58] 14.10] 56.16] $14.04 | $0.177 |s0.0296 
ANU MO eS ie ate en a ee 32 7.70 69. 07 12.94 Nek iP? 50. 36 12.59 - 182 - 0299 
North Yakima and Zil- 
Lee oe RE OS ye 75 6. 44 74.88 12.73 13.95 53.69 13.42 - 179 . 0297 
Under mulch-crop manage- 
ment: 
North Yakima. .......-- 21 4.52 76.26 IDA SAL 14. 03 54. 38 13.60 178 .0313 
DAW AR Sere rm aes 2 Say aS 24 7.89 67.03 12.00 14.14 47.39 11.85 silae - 0323 
North Yakima and Zil- 
dW 0a ee a a eee Pa 45 6.30 Uloo D2 B37 14.08 50.65 12. 66 -178 .0318 
All orchards: E 
Nonghevakimaes sss. 64 5.18 78.24 12. 66 14.10 55.58 13.90 .179 . 0301 
LAU es eee es eo 56 Us ttt 68. 19 12. 54 13.50 49.08 IDR PA? 179 - 0308 
North Yakima and Zil- 
NO acim SON, ay Se a ee oe ee 120 6.39 oso 12.60 | 14.00 | 52.55 13. 14 .179 . 0304 
On account of the closeness of setting and the rapid growth of the 
trees, it is necessary that this operation be done every year in order 
to keep the trees within reasonable control. There appears to have 
been no definite plan of shaping the trees which were planted earlier 
in the valley, but in the younger orchards the style of pruning is 
