COST OF PRODUCING APPLES IN WENATCHEE VALLEY, WASH. 17 



The operation of turning the water on the land is termed a "set." 

 It may be necessary if the head of water is small to make several 

 changes or "sets" before the entire area is irrigated. This is usually 

 the case, especially where the orchard tracts are large. For this 

 reason the orchardist turns the whole of the head into a few furrows 

 and allows it to run from 12 to 72 hours, varying with the type and 

 condition of the soil. The water is allowed to run until, by a slow 

 lateral movement, it has thoroughly saturated the soil between the 

 furrows. As a rule the rancher judges merely by the surface condi- 

 tions of the soil as to when sufficient saturation has taken place. 

 When he finds that the area has become well saturated, he turns the 

 water into another portion of the orchard, and so on until the entire 

 area is irrigated. 



Many factors affect the time and labor of irrigation. The principal 

 ones are: Water head; contour of land; method of delivery, whether 

 open ditch, flume, pipe, or faucet ; number, length, and depth of fur- 

 rows; kind of soil; physical condition of soil; cultural method; atmos- 

 pheric conditions; gophers. 



On the average, four irrigations are made in Wenatchee Valley 

 annually. The first irrigation is usually made between the 1st and 

 15th of May, the second between the 1st and 15th of June, the third 

 between the 1st and loth of July, and the fourth between the 1st and 

 15th of August. In some instances irrigations are made as early as 

 April and as late as the middle or latter part of September. There 

 are a few orchardists who make as many as nine irrigations. 



There is practically no difference in the time required for irrigating 

 the alfalfa and the clean cultivated orchards. On those farms 

 studied in the valley, the average number of man-hours per season 

 necessary to irrigate an acre of clean-cultivated orchard was 34.37, 

 making a labor cost of $8.59, while the average time necessary to irri- 

 gate 1 acre of an orchard in alfalfa was 35.66 man-hours, making a 

 labor cost of 88.92. 



THINNING. 



Practically every orchardist in the valley thins his fruit. Thinning 

 is very important, and the quality of the fruit which matures depends 

 to a great extent upon the amount of thinning done. There are some 

 varieties which require more thinning than others. The Missouri,. 

 Wagener, Grimes, Yellow Newtown, and King David are varieties 

 which perhaps demand more thinning than any others in order to 

 produce a fruit of marketable size. This thinning is generally done 

 after what is known as the "June drop," when the apples begin to 

 approach the size of a walnut. Many times it is impossible to get all 

 the thinning done at this time, other operations interfering. 



58599°— Bull. 446—17 3 



