COST OP PRODUCING APPLES IN WENATCHEE VALLEY, WASH. 25 



Table XIX. — Man and horse hours chargeable per acre for cultivation in alfalfa orchards. 





Number of 

 records. 



Plowing. 



Disking. 



Cultivating. 



Furrowing. 



Total. 





Man. 



Horse. 



Man. 



Horse. 



Man. 



Horse. 



Man. 



Horse. 



Man. 



Horse. 



30 



Hours. 

 1.03 



Hours. 

 2.06 



Hours. 

 5.65 



Hours. 

 10.86 



Hours. 

 2.97 



Hours. 

 5.16 



Hours. 

 2.09 



Hours. 

 3.39 



Hours. 

 11.74 



Hours. 

 21.47 







Many times, in order to facilitate irrigation, it is necessary to do 

 other labor in the orchard, such as hand hoeing and locating the work 

 of gophers. Such items were taken into account under miscellaneous 

 labor. Five irrigations, on an average, were made in alfalfa orchards. 

 Alfalfa orchards required more water than the clean-cultivated 

 orchards; nevertheless, the average time per acre for labor connected 

 with irrigation was not much more than in the clean-cultivated 

 orchards. 



Twenty of the orchards under alfalfa management were mown, on 

 an average, twice. (See Table XX.) 



Table XX.— Man and horse hours chargeable per acre for harvesting alfalfa. 





Number of records. 



Mowing. 



Rake and pile. 



Hauling in. 



Total. 



Yield 





Man. 



Horse. 



Man. 



Horse. 



Man. 



Horse. 



Man. 



Horse. 



acre. 



20 



Hours. 

 6.62 



Hours. 

 3.13 



Hours. 



4.64 



Hours. 

 0.96 



Hours. 

 5.38 



Hours. 

 5.58 



Hours. 

 16.64 



Hours. 

 9.67 



Hours. 

 1.01 







The figures secured indicate a cost of $11.77 per acre for cultivation 

 and harvesting of the alfalfa crop. The total cost per acre for culti- 

 vation in orchards under clean-cultivation management was $14.75, 

 giving a difference of $2.98 in favor of the orchards under alfalfa 

 management. There is, however, in alfalfa orchards a cost of $8.92 

 per acre for irrigation, or $0.33 more than the average cost per acre 

 for the same under clean-culture management, which would, there- 

 fore, make the difference of only $2.65 in favor of the latter. But 

 considering the yield of 1 ton per acre of alfalfa valued at $9 per ton, 

 there would appear to be a total difference of $11.65 per acre, or 

 practically $0.0196 per box, in favor of the orchards under alfalfa 

 management. (See Table XXI.) 



Owing to the fact that so few have been in alfalfa for any length of 

 time and that the management of these orchards was more or less in a 

 transitory state, it was impossible to obtain adequate complete data 

 on this subject. A more extended investigation would be necessary 

 to determine the relative merits of the two methods of management. 



