18 BULLETIN 1455, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



Table 17. — Summary of the farm business on 48 orchard farms, 1916-1921 * 



Item 



1916 



1917 



1918 



1919 



1920 



Average 

 1916-1920 



1921 



Average 

 1916-1921 





Dollars 



9,980 



4,536 



5,444 



1,525 



3,919 



15.4 



743 



462 



Dollars 



6,429 



3,430 



2,999 



1,537 



1,462 



7.3 



753 



455 



Dollars 



11, 959 



6,299 



5,660 



1,536 



4,124 



15.6 



871 



452 



Dollars 



9,999 



5,506 



4,493 



2,033 



2,460 



8.8 



922 



438 



Dollars 



12, 717 



10, 153 



2,564 



2,315 



249 



3.4 



967 



416 



Dollars 



10, 217 



5,985 



4,232 



1,789 



2,443 



9.4 



851 



436 



Dollars 

 2,017 

 3,035 



-1,018 

 2,163 



-3, 181 



-4.4 



871 



Dollars 

 8,850 





5, 493 





3,357 



Interest on valuation at 5 per cent. 



1,852 

 1,506 



Per cent return on valuation 



Value of farmer's labor ._ ._ 



6.8 



854 



Value of family living from farm.. 











Valuation of farm 2 



30, 505 



30, 735 



30,732. 



40, 662 



46, 306 



35, 788 



43, 253 



37, 032 







1 Minus sign (— ) before any figures indicates a loss. 



2 Includes real estate, livestock, equipment, supplies, and operating cash. 



RELATION OF PRODUCTION TO RETURNS 



Since, on the average, 93 per cent of the receipts on these orchard 

 farms was from apples, the total returns varied from farm to farm 

 largely as the production of apples varied. 



The production per farm (Tables 18 and 19) was dependent upon 

 the number of acres in bearing orchard and the yield per acre. 



As the production per orchard increased, as shown in Table 18, 

 the returns to capital and labor increased. The large orchards, 

 taken as a class, made the larger net incomes, but some small orchards 

 were handled particularly well and as a result had relatively good 

 returns. The larger incomes on the larger orchard farms were 

 mainly because of the larger size of business during a period of profit- 

 able apple production, but many of the small orchards in the Fred- 

 erick County area had relatively low yields per acre, and as a result 

 the incomes were relatively low (Table 19). 



The following is an outstanding example of the effect of yield of 

 apples on the income from the orchard: A 16-acre orchard, among the 

 48, had a five-year average yield of 102 barrels of good apples per 

 acre and an average farm income of $3,750. This farm income was 

 less than $500 below the average of the 48 farms on which the acreage 

 of bearing apples was three and one-fourth times the acreage of 

 the 16-acre orchard. 



Table 18. — Total apple production of orchards and relative incomes, 48 orchard 

 farms; average for 1916 to 1920 





A 



o 

 ce 



.So, 



03 M 



.a 

 S 



o 



1* 



ftu 

 <2 

 cm g* 

 8 a 5 

 SS.2 8 

 >+= be 



< 



© 



03 

 ft 



2 



Distribution of farms by acres 

 in bearing orchards 



CD 



a 



o 

 « 



g 



C3 





 o 

 o 



a 



u 



o 



3 



> 



Fl'-H 



1- 03 



B 



03 



O 



o3-*-» 



ft 

 03 



o 



Production groups 



S3 

 U 



o 



03 

 CD 



si 



C3 



o3 



£2 



o o 



Below 1,000 barrels 



No. 

 14 

 17 

 5 

 5 

 7 



Bbls. 

 697 



1,568 

 2,256 

 3,551 

 6,496 



Bbls. 

 28 

 40 



48 

 45 

 53 



No. 

 9 

 3 



No. 

 5 

 10 

 3 



No. 



No. 



No. 



Dolls. 

 1,187 

 2,630 

 3,216 

 6,177 



13, 549 



Dolls. 

 292 

 1,168 

 1,778 

 3,402 

 9,627 



P.ct. 

 3.2 



6.6 

 8.7 

 9.0 

 15.3 



Dolls. 



17, 875 



1,000 to 2,000 barrels . 



4 

 2 

 1 







29, 249 



2,000 to 3,000 barrels 







28,756 



3,000 to 4,000 barrels 



i::\ 



55, 491 









3 



4 



78,442 















48 



2,311 



44 



12 



18 



7 



7 



4 



4,232 



2, 443 



9.4 



35,788 







1 Per cent returned on valuation is obtained by deducting what the operator considers worth his time 

 from the "farm income" and dividing this balance by the value of the farm, including real estate, equipment, 

 and supplies. 



