COST OF PRODUCING APPLES IN HOOD RIVER VALLEY. 17 



As concerns the age of the trees, the orchards show a steady in- 

 crease in yield up to 10 years, and thenceforward the yield per acre 

 remains practically steady, barring fluctuations according to the 

 season. 



Another factor which influences the yield is the variety of fruit. 

 Both Yellow Newtown and Esopus are trees which, comparatively 

 speaking, come into bearing late in life. Soil, condition of tree, 

 insect pests, diseases, pruning, thinning, etc., are other factors which 

 have an influence on the yield of marketable fruit. 



The average yield in Hood Eiver Valley may show an increase in 

 the next few years, due to the fact that irrigation and the use of 

 mulch crops are coming into more general use. Mulch crops, when 

 properly handled, add considerable humus to the soil. It can not be 

 said conclusively that the mulch-crop system of management pro- 

 duces a larger yield in all cases, but the mulch-crop and irrigated 

 orchards yielded 10 boxes per acre more than did those in clean culti- 

 vation and for the greater part unirrigated. Clean cultivation with- 

 out the addition of humus of any kind, especially in the orchards 

 without water, tends to deplete the soil. This is shown very Conclu- 

 sively by the condition and health of the trees on those orchards of 

 bearing age which have been intensively cultivated for years without 

 the addition of any plant food in the form of manure or a mulch 

 crop. 



MARKETING AND PRICES RECEIVED. 



It is not the purpose of this investigation to follow the fruit 

 farther than the loading station, and the costs here given are for the 

 fruit delivered f. o. b. at Hood Eiver station. The net prices which 

 are returned to the grower are usually on this basis, all loading, 

 freight, selling, and association charges being deducted. 



The fruit in Hood Eiver Valley has in general been handled by 

 associations or distributing agencies. These may be either coopera- 

 tive or otherwise, but most of the fruit has been shipped through 

 cooperative organizations. Such organizations usually handle the 

 fruit at a fixed cost per box, this being ordinarily 10 cents, or it may 

 be handled on commission. 



Hood Eiver apples reach widely different markets, many of them 

 entering the foreign trade. The grower does not hold the fruit in 

 storage on his place, but it is often stored by the association, the 

 grower being charged a fixed amount per box for storage. 



The net prices returned to the grower vary greatly. Extra fancy 

 bring the highest price, followed by the fancy, and then by C grade. 

 It sometimes happens that a grower's returns are greater for lower 



72668°— Bull. 518—17 3 



