THE APPLE INDUSTRY IN FREDERICK COUNTY, VA. 7 



Table 4. — Crop area, yield per acre, crop receipts, and productive animal units 

 and receipts from livestock under different systems of farming; average for 1916- 

 1920 





Crop acreage 



Yield per acre l Crop receipts 



Item 



General 

 farms 



Mixed 

 farms 



Or- 

 chard 

 farms 



General Mixed 

 farms ; farms 



Or- 

 chard 

 farms 



General 

 farms 



Mixed 

 farms 



Or- 

 chard 

 farms 



Crops: 



Acres 

 6 



22 

 33 



22 



4 



Acres 

 24 



21 

 28 



19 

 3 



Acres 

 52 



10 

 9 



8 



l 



Bbls. Bbls. 



20 44 

 Bush. Bush. 



36 38 



Bbls. 



62 

 Bush. 



34 



Dolls. 

 247 



230 

 891 



149 

 38 



Dolls. 

 2,417 



132 

 671 



108 

 39 



Dolls. 

 9,464 



Corn__ 



82 



Wheat 



16 15 j 15 



Tons Tons i Tons 



0. 9 1.0 0. 9 



227 



Hay 



24 





1 20 













Animal units 3 



Receipts per animal 

 unit 



Receipts per farm 



Livestock (does not include 



No. 

 21.7 



No. 

 20. 1 



No. 

 9.0 



Bolls. ■ Dolls. Dolls. 1 Dolls. 

 48 47 



Dolls. Dolls. 

 945 1 





















i Yield of apples per acre includes both packed and cull apples. 



2 Total acreage in apples, including bearing and nonbearing trees, for the different farm types respec- 

 tively were: General farms, 14; mixed farms, 33; and orchard farms, 72. 



3 Different classes of livestock were reduced to a common unit as follows: One grown cow or horse is 

 equivalent in feed consumption to 2 colts or young cattle, 3 hogs, 7 sheep, 14 lambs, or 100 chickens. 



DEVELOPMENT OF ORCHARDS ON THE FARMS STUDIED 



The development of commercial apple orchards on the 48 farms 

 studied in Frederick County has taken place largely since 1898 

 (Table 5). The farmers made two or more plantings in the interval 

 of about 20 years at such times as they thought expedient and as 

 they were financially able to make them. 



The largest number of trees planted on these farms were in the 

 five-year period 1901-1905 (Table 6), when 29 per cent of the plant- 

 ings on the 48 orchards was made. The largest planting for a single 

 year was 453 acres in 1903. Eighty-two per cent of the bearing 

 acreage on these 48 farms was under 25 years of age and 63 per cent 

 was under 20 years (Table 7). The farms studied showed the 

 greatest orchard development between 1900 and 1910 but for the 

 county as a whole there were larger plantings of trees in the period 



1910 to 1920 than during any other 10-year period. 



The winter apple industry, for some time prior to 1910, was not 

 only favored by ascending prices but the purchasing power of apples 

 was considerably greater than for most other agricultural products. 

 Since 1910 this prestige has been lost and during most of this time 

 apples have been cheap compared with the price of all commodities. 

 Naturally, plantings are usually made because apples have been 

 profitable. On these 48 farms 68 per cent of the acreage was planted 

 during the period 1896 to 1910 and 17 per cent was planted during 



1911 to 1915. From 1916 to 1921 relatively few trees were set out 

 on these farms. 



