6 



BULLETIN 130, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



In considering the labor requirements in the production of fruit, the 

 following questions present themselves: What operations make the 

 total labor in the production of marketable apples? What factors 

 influence the cost of these operations ? What records should be kept 

 by the grower so that he may at any time know the cost of a given 

 operation and at the close of any season know the total cost of any 

 and all operations ? 



In the management of commercial orchards there are operations 

 which must be performed and which are essential for the production 

 of marketable fruit. These operations will be discussed in the order 

 of their occurrence in the western New York apple belt. 



Detailed labor costs for the Wellman farm, taken during 1911 and 

 1912, are given in Table II. 



Table II. — Labor costs on the 14-74-acre Wellman apple orchard, containing 527 trees, 



for 1911 and 1912. 



Operations. 



Dates. 



Total hours. 



Man.i Horse. 2 



Labor cost. 



Total. 



Per 

 acre. 



Per 

 tree. 



Per 



barrel. 



Pruning 



Removing brush 



Mixing lime and sulphur . 



First spraying 



Second spraying 



Third spraying 



Plowing 



Rolling 



First harrowing 3 



Second harrowing 



Third harrowing 



Fourth spraying 



Sowing cover crop 



Fourth harrowing 



Picking apples 



Picking up apples 



Packing apples 



Marketing apples 



Mar. 

 Apr. 



11 to Apr. 17. 

 10 to 26 



Apr. 



May 

 May 

 June 

 May 

 June 

 June 

 June 

 July 

 July 

 July 

 Aug. 

 Sept. 

 Aug. 



25 to May 2.. 



12 to 13 



23 to 26 



18 to 27 



29 to June 7 . . 

 7 to 8 



19 to 22 



30 to July 22. 



20 to 21 



22 to 24 



22 to 25 



31 to Oct, 19. 

 21 to Oct. 22. 

 31 to Nov. 3. 



137 



27* 



45 



48§ 

 lOlf 



10* 



30! 



121 



10 



24 



10J 



24f 

 765! 

 lOOf 

 418! 

 234| 



26 



38! 

 30 

 48 

 193! 

 21 

 61 

 24i 

 20 

 24 



49| 



355J 



$24. 52 



8.90 



1.43 



14.70 



12.65 



16.03 



47.81 



5.09 



14.79 



5.94 



4.85 



7.97 



1.88 



12.01 



137. 03 



18.04 



74.91 



96.36 



SI. 663 



.604 



.097 



.998 



.859 



1.088 



3.243 



.344 



1.004 



.403 



.329 



.541 



.128 



.814 



9.297 



1.224 



5.082 



6.536 



$0. 046 

 .017 

 .003 

 .028 

 .024 

 .032 

 .091 

 .010 

 .028 

 .011 

 .009 

 .015 

 .004 

 .023 

 .260 

 .034 

 .140 

 .183 



Total for year. 



2,0581 



504.91 



34. 254 



l»5X 



Pruning 



Removing brush 



First spraying 



Second spraying 



Third spraying 



Cutting clover 



Cutting clover (with scythe) 



Fourth spraying .' 



Thinning apples 



Cutting blight 



Picking apples... 

 Contract picking. 



1912. 



Dec. 21 (1911) to Apr. 26 



Apr. 4 to May 3 



May 3 to 4 



May 13 to 14 



May 31 to June 6 



June 25 to Julv 11 



June 28 to July 11 



Aug. 6 to 13 



Aug.7tol3 



Aug. 16 to 29 



Aug. 26 to Oct. 31. 

 Oct. 9 to 31 



229i 

 74J 

 55! 

 45! 

 80 

 13 

 11 

 67f 

 34 

 22 



60! 



36 



30 



54 



26 



70 



41.03 



22.55 



15.44 



12.73 



22.58 



6.31 



1.97 



22.84 



6.09 



3.94 



2.784 

 1.530 

 1.048 

 .864 

 1.532 

 .428 

 .133 

 1.550 

 .413 

 .267 



.078 

 .043 

 .029 

 .024 

 .043 

 .012 

 .004 

 .043 

 .012 

 .007 



239 

 553J 



Total picking. 



319. 48 21. 674 



Packing apples 



Hauling apples to barn 



Marketing barreled apples. 



Marketing driers 



Picking up apples 



Equipment to and from or- 

 chard. 



Inspection 



Superintendence 



Aug. 28 to Nov. 21. 

 Sept. 28 to Oct. 31. 

 Aug. 26 to Nov. 21 . 

 Oct. 2 to Dec. 4... 

 Oct. 31 to Dec. 3... 



124! 



383 



168! 



171.66 

 43.71 

 93.28 

 40.86 

 22.46 

 1.94 



1.70 

 6.09 



Total for year . 



3.0(52? 



wm 



s;>(>. 1)6 



11. 645 

 2.965 

 6.329 

 2.772 

 1.524 

 .132 



.115 

 .413 



.325 

 .083 

 .177 

 .077 

 .043 

 .004 



.003 

 .012 



58.118 



$0. 026 

 .009 

 .002 

 .016 

 .014 

 .017 

 .051 

 .006 

 .016 

 .006 

 .005 

 .009 

 .002 

 .013 

 .146 

 .019 

 .080 

 .102 



.539 



.019 

 .011 

 .007 

 .006 

 .011 

 .003 

 .001 

 .011 

 .003 

 .002 



.152 



.081 

 .021 

 .044 

 .019 

 .011 

 .001 



,001 

 .003 



,407 



1 Man-hour rate, 17.9 cents. 



2 Horse-hour rate, 15.3 cents. 



3 Ground harrowed over twice, 

 tooth drag. 



A 3-section spike-tooth harrow was used first, followed by a spring- 



