BULEEEFIN OF THE 
gj) UNDEPARTMENT OFAGRICULTURE * 
No. 29 
Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry, Wm. A. Taylor, Chief. 
November 21, 1913. 
CREW WORK, COSTS, AND RETURNS IN COMMER- 
CIAL ORCHARDING IN WEST VIRGINIA. 
By J. H. ARNOLD, 
Agriculturist, Office of Farm Management. 
INTRODUCTION. 
One of the most highly developed enterprises illustrating the prin- 
ciples of farm management is that of commercial orcharding. There 
is a lack of concrete data available to the public, however, on the costs 
of various operations connected with orcharding, as well as the net 
returns which may be expected in a series of years under varying 
conditions. Also there is a lack of specific information in regard to 
the organization of labor cn fruit farms, the rate of work for each 
operation, and the kind and number of operations necessary to insure 
success. 
Like every other business enterprise 1t must be recognized that the 
cost of operations, labor units, and standards of labor in the orchard 
vary with conditions, the principal determining factors being land 
features, such as soil, topography, climate, distance to shipping point, 
and markets. Those interested in orcharding as a practical business 
enterprise should know what these cost units and standards of labor 
ought to be under these specified conditions when directed by a 
trained and experienced manager, as well as to know the results of 
average experiences. Such data enable one to measure his success 
along any one of these lines and they also furnish a scientific basis for 
calculating the profits that might reasonably be expected in orcharding. 
The writer has attempted in this bulletin to summarize and analyze 
the experiences in orchard management of individuals who have been 
pioneers in the development of this industry in a region which 
undoubtedly has many favorable locations for profitable fruit raising. 
This region hes in the drainage basin of the Potomac River in West 
Virginia. It is intended to interpret the orchard management 
achieved by these pioneers in a way to assist them in its further 
development and to enable others to profit by the results of past 
experience. 
9680°—13——1 
