COST OF PRODUCING APPLES WESTERN NEW YORK. 13 



type of farming followed. The greatest factor, however, is the 

 farmer himself. If he is what is termed a "fruit man" he may be 

 expected to do what is necessary to maintain a profitable fruit busi- 

 ness, but unlike many of the northwestern fruit areas, the western 

 Xew York district does not have many farmers who are in a strict 

 sense apple specialists. General farming is practiced, so that the 

 raising of other crops often conflicts with important orchard work. 

 The men here can not give the individual care and thought to the 

 orchard business that the northwesterner can give. Much of the 

 cultural work is done by hired labor. Many of the farms are worked 

 on shares, in which case the orchard is frequently neglected, since it 

 is very difficult to make the tenant understand the importance of 

 careful and systematic treatment of the trees over a period of years, 

 though if prospects indicate a large crop or the possibility of fair 

 prices the tenant as well as the owner may cultivate and spray 

 with care. 



MAINTENANCE. 



The maintenance of an orchard is the real problem in successful 

 fruit farming. Many farmers have the foundation of a successful 

 and highly profitable enterprise, but fail to put their best thought 

 and energies into development and completion of nature's good 

 work. There are many poorly cared for and unproductive orchards 

 to-day in western Xew York which, with the proper care and en- 

 couragement, would produce profitable crops. 



The importance of maintenance is evidenced by the single fact 

 that it requires annually about 75 man hours and 60 horse hours per 

 acre. This amounts to about 44 per cent of the total man labor and 

 68 per cent of the total horse labor used per acre in the production 

 of the apple in western Xew York. 



METHOD OF CULTIVATION. 



Generally speaking, in western Xew York we have two types of 

 orchards — those which are cultivated and those which remain in 

 sod. Of the 218 orchardists who were considered in this study, 193. 

 or 89 per cent, tilled their orchards each year (see Table IX). Of 

 this number, 175 tilled their entire orchard annually. Cultivation 

 usually begins as early in the spring as the condition of the land 

 permits, continuing until the middle or latter part of the summer. 

 After the last cultivation, 108 of the 175 sowed their entire orchards 

 to some cover crop; 67 did not, but allowed the weeds to grow. A 

 few of these men pastured their orchards late in the season. An 

 estimate of the value of such pasture was given by the growers and 

 a corresponding credit was allowed in arriving at the cost of pro- 

 duction. Fourteen men tilled their orchards, but not annually; 11 

 left them in sod. 



