COST OF PRODUCING APPLES IN YAKIMA VALLEY. ao 
cultivator, shovel plow, and alfalfa marker. The cultivator and | 
shovel plow are used most commonly in the North Yakima district. 
When the cultivator, which is usually 6 feet in width, is used for 
- making creases, three shovels are attached—one at each end and one 
in the middle. A man and team constitute the crew. The trees of 
the valley are so set that with this implement six furrows 3 feet apart 
may be made comfortably in the space between the tree rows. These 
small furrows, usually four to six between tree rows, are 4 to 6 inches 
in depth. Often one or two cultivator teeth are placed between the 
shovels to loosen the soil between the furrows as they are being 
made. The 6- or 8-inch shovel plow is used by many orchardists, 
with either one or two horses. Where the trees are close together or 
the branches hang low, it often is necessary for one man to devote 
his entire attention to the plow while another man leads the horse. 
Orchardists often use a 1-horse shovel plow for making one or two 
_ furrows close to the tree row and then use either a 2-horse shovel plow 
— 
or a 6-foot cultivator for making the other furrows. Ordinarily | 
fewer creases are made between tree rows when the shovel plow is 
used than when the cultivator is used. 
The alfalfa marker is a homemade implement. It is made by 
attaching a 4-inch shovel to the end of a 4 by 4 from 2 to 3 feet in 
length. Upon this 4 by 4 is made a platform on which the operator 
may ride. The small 4-inch shovel at the front end of the 4 by 4 
_ breaks the soil as it is drawn by the team and the weight of the 
operator upon the platform forces the 4 by 4 into the ground, making 
a suitable furrow. The edges of the 4 by 4 which enter the ground 
are usually planed so that it will pass through the soil more easily, 
This implement is used most commonly 1 in making furrows in alfalfa 
in the Zillah district. 
The importance of furrowing in all clean-cultivated orchar ds of the 
valley is shown by the fact that its cost constitutes more than 20 per 
cent of the total cost of cultivation, exclusive of plowing. Records 
were obtained from 75 orchards under clean tillage, 74 of which 
practiced irrigation. 
Furrows are made following each cultivation and before each i irriga- 
tion until along in the midsummer, when cultivation ceases. After 
this last cultivation it is usually necessary to make only one set of 
furrows for any subsequent irrigations. Of the 74 orchardists in- 
question, 12 made five creasings, 33 made four, 22 made three, 6 made 
two, and 1 made one. | : 
In the clean-cultivated orchards 28 orchardists used the 6-foot 
cultivator and 41 the shovel plow (28 with a crew of one man and one 
horse and 13 with one man and two horses); 2 used the alfalfa marker, 
and 3, miscellaneous implements. 
