COST OF PRODUCING APPLES IN YAKIMA VALLEY. al 
The equipment charge for the Zillah ranches was $6.52 per acre, 
while for those of North Yakima it was $9.07. The relatively higher 
cost for North Yakima is attributable to the fact that the farms there 
are small, necessitating a comparatively heavy equipment per acre. 
A 25 per cent annual charge was used for equipment in this region. 
This charge is divided as follows: 11 per cent, depreciation; 8 per 
cent, interest; 5 per cent, upkeep; 1 per cent, taxes. 
This equipment charge is naturally more or less an arbitrary figure. 
It is impossible to tell just how much equipment is used on the 
orchard and just what percentage should be the equipment charge; 
also the equipment of many growers depreciates much more rapidly 
than that of others. Available data from this and other western 
apple-growing regions indicate that there is an average charge of fully 
25 per cent for the equipment found on the average apple farm. 
In addition to the regular equipment charge, there is another charge 
of like nature, namely, the spray rig hire. In many orchards of the 
valley those growers who do not have a rig have to hire their spraying 
done. This cost, when prorated over all records, amounted to $1.94 
per acre for the North Yakima ranches and $0.64 per acre for those 
of Zillah, the difference reflecting the fact that a greater proportion 
of growers in North Yakima hired their spraying done than in Zillah. 
This charge is included under fixed costs, as it merely goes to make 
up the lack of equipment charge on Thee orchards which do not 
have aspray rig. Thus, for the 120 records, there is a spray rig hire 
of $1.33 per acre, or $0.0031 per box. If this regular equipment 
charge and spray rig hire are added together, forming what might 
be termed a total equipment charge, there is found to be an acre 
cost for all records of $9.21, or $0.0214 per box. 
The land tax rate, as in many other Northwestern districts, is 
very high as compared to Eastern farming districts. For the farms 
studied in the North Yakima district it was $14.60 per acre, or 
$0.0316 per box, while for the Zillah district it was $6.84 per acre 
or $0.0172 per box. The high tax rate tor North Yakima is due 
largely to the locality, much of the fruit being located on Nob Hill, 
where land has a high valuation due to its residential advantages. 
The cost of all taxes amounts to $10.98 per acre, or $0.0254 per box. 
The water tax or rent is much higher in North Yakima than in 
Zillah, since many of the Zillah orchards are on the Konowak ditch 
and have free water right. The water rent amounted to $3.10 per 
acre for the North Yakima farms and $0.86 per acre for Zillah. The 
water rent for the 120 orchards was $2.06, or nearly $0.005 per box. 
As will be seen from Tables XLVI, XLVII and XLVIII, the water 
rent was higher in all cases in the mulch-crop orchards. This is not 
due to the orchards being in mulch crop, but to the fact that they 
happened to be situated in the more expensive urigation districts. 
