COMMERCIAL ORCHARDING IN WEST VIRGINIA. 19 
The costs in commercial peach orcharding, as shown in the tables, 
are higher than the estimates given by most orchardists in this section. 
The estimates given by experienced orchardists are no doubt approxi- 
mately correct for their particular conditions. Few orchardists, 
however, do as thorough cultivation and spraying as is assumed in 
working out the unit costs given in the tables. Some orchards on 
chert land have not yet been sprayed at the age of 8 to 10 years. 
Based on such records as could be had and on estimates given by 
managers the average cost per tree per year for routine operating 
expenses in this section 1s about 37 cents. The cost of thinning, pick- 
ing, packing, and loading on cars the average distance from market 
is about 18 cents per basket. 
In some orchard districts it has been found that the returns bear 
a close relationship to the expense of production, i. e., increased cost 
of production within certain limits stands for increased efficiency and 
a corresponding increase in returns. 
The estimates given for the cost of bringing the orchard to the bear- 
ing stage through a period of four years vary from 75 cents to $1.50 
per tree. On the basis of common methods of caring for the orchard 
through this period, the cost would average about 80 cents per tree 
- on smooth land and about $1 per tree on chert lands. The figures 
given in Table IT are based on the most thorough and approved meth- 
ods of management, while these lower estimates are based on the 
methods found in more common practice. 
HISTORY OF YIELDS OF REPRESENTATIVE ORCHARDS. 
Table II gives the actual yields on several of the large commercial 
orchards in representative sections of this region. 
TaBLE III.— Yields of seven large commercial peach orchards in West Virginia. 
Orchard No. Number | Number of 
; Periods of | Price per : 
of trees. baskets. Failures. bearing. paaket Soll: 
Pera eR as ee 9, 000 1S oD de | NONeCr ener 1910 to 1912 $0.52 | Red. 
Dj AS URS OE Na Ui ne a 8, 000 Op ROD Meee Os Goooolsoses do .67 | Chert and red. 
Bs osteo eeae eee 30, 000 GSROMS8seaeereee eae ese Clos Gese .72 | Red. 
A eC e tre Re le eee 17,000 116,000 | 1 year...-.. 1908 to 1911 . 69 Do. 
So oscasSGSeke eee eee 15, 000 191,500 |...do......| 1905 to 1912 .74 | Chert. 
Oo Loa ose eae eae 30, 000 52,000 | None......]..... does 232 . 69 Do. 
(laa co cede Goeeeoaae Mares 35, 000 O5* O00R eeedoeesece 1912 .67 Do. 
Taking the above figures as a basis for computing the average yield 
per tree it is found that each tree may be expected to bear 1.24 
baskets per tree during the crop years. On the basis of the above 
history and the estimates given by growers of long experience in this 
region it would be safe to count on eight crops of peaches during the 
life of the orchard. This would give an average of about 10 baskets 
of peaches per tree for the life period of the orchard. The better 
