UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



DEPARTMENT BULLETIN No. 1455 



Washington, D. C. T January, 1927 



INCOMES FROM FARMING AND COST OF APPLE PRODUCTION IN THE 

 SHENANDOAH VALLEY, FREDERICK COUNTY, VA. 1 



By C. R. Swinson, Associate Agricultural Economist, Division of Farm Manage- 

 ment and Costs, Bureau of Agricultural Economics 



CONTENTS 



Page 



Introduction 1 



Development of the apple industry in Freder- 

 ick County. 3 



Types of farming in Frederick County 5 



Development of orchards on the farms 



studied 7 



Page 



Organization of orchard farms 11 



Incomes from orchard farming. 17 



Orchard operation and production.... 19 



Cost of producing apples 23 



INTRODUCTION 



The Apple Pie Ridge orchard section of the Shenandoah Valley in 

 Virginia is a part of the Shenandoah-Cumberland Valley apple belt, 

 a commercial apple-producing section that is increasing in importance 

 with respect to the quantity of apples supplied to the market. Unlike 

 many of the new commercial apple sections, which previous to the 

 growing of apples have had little agricultural significance, the Shenan- 

 doah Valley has long been noted for its agricultural contributions. 



Production of apples on a commercial scale in the valley represents 

 a shifting in type of agriculture caused largely by economic forces. 

 Comparative costs and returns have been such that on many farms 

 there has been a change from a system of general farming in which 

 wheat played an important part to a system in which the production 

 of apples is of first importance. This change in the type of agri- 

 culture has been more or less gradual, and although orcharding is 

 carried on extensively in the valley to-day, there are many farmers 

 who still follow the old systems of general farming. 



Realizing that the area around Winchester, Va., is the center of a 

 large regional development of commercial orchards, and that such 

 transition in types of farming would present many problems in 

 organization, the Bureau of Agricultural Economics began an 

 economic survey in this region in 1916 which continued through the 

 year 1921. 



Orchards included in this study are located in Frederick County, 

 Va., near Winchester, and many of them on Apple Pie Ridge. They 

 are a part of a very extensive commercial area which extends through 



1 This work was made possible through the help extended by various members of the staff of the Bureau 

 of Agricultural Economics. Harvey W. Hawthorne and Henry A. Miller gave much aid in gathering the 

 data and made valuable suggestions in the course of outlining the content of the bulletin. 



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