1152 
the orchard up to and including the fifth 
year is about $125 per acre. The fifth 
year the trees should yield a box to the 
tree and may pay for the expense of that 
year and a little more. From this year 
on the yields will increase until the 
tenth year, when they usually reach full 
bearing and produce eight to ten boxes 
per tree. A full-bearing orchard should 
give a net profit per acre of from $150 
to $400. The orchardist should always 
average more than $100 profit per acre 
per year and a profit of $500 to $600 per 
acre is not uncommon. The leading vari- 
eties are Jonathan, Rome Beauty and 
Winesap. 
Prunes 
The Italian prune is the variety that 
is grown commercially. It comes into 
bearing the fifth year, or may bear a 
little the fourth year. It costs about 
$100 per acre to bring the prune or- 
chard into bearing. Full bearing is 
reached about the eighth year, when the 
trees should produce 200 pounds, or 
eight crates of fruit each, making ten 
tons per acre, which should give a gross 
income of $150 per acre, or a net profit 
of about $110 per acre, assuming that 
the prunes are sold on the trees. This 
is a conservative statement, as under 
favorable conditions the profits may ex- 
ceed $200 per acre. 
Peaches 
Being somewhat more susceptible to 
injury from frost, the peach has not as 
wide an adaptability as apples, pears and 
prunes. Its culture will therefore be 
very largely confined to the favored loca- 
tions such as the Snake River canyon and 
certain foothill locations in the lower 
valleys. Peaches should bear some fruit 
the third year. The sixth year they 
should give a net profit of from $200 to 
$500 per acre. The Alexander, Early 
Crawford, Elberta, Champion, Sulway 
and Late Crawford are the leading va- 
rieties grown. 
Other Orchard Fruits 
The culture of the pear is much like 
the apple and the profits are about the 
same. The best varieties are the Bart- 
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 
lett, Flemish Beauty and Anjou. Sour 
cherries may be grown everywhere and 
are a profitable crop, netting about as 
much per acre as peaches. Sweet cher- 
ries may be grown in the more favored 
localities. Plums are grown everywhere 
in family orchards and produce well. 
Lewiston has, perhaps, the most favor- 
able climate for the production of the 
less hardy fruits. Sweet cherries, 
peaches and grapes are grown there on 
a commercial scale. 
Small Fruits 
At Lewiston the Huropean grapes are 
grown quite extensively. It costs about 
$165 per acre to bring vineyards into 
bearing. The expense of producing a 
crop is about $75 per acre, and the net 
returns are about $350 to $400 per acre. 
The varieties grown are Flame Tokay, 
White Malaga, Raninnania and Black 
Cornichon. In Southern Idaho the Euro- 
pean sorts can be grown only in the 
most favored locations, while the Ameri- 
can grapes, such as Concord, Diana, 
Worden, Niagara, Sweetwater, Moore’s 
Karly and Brighton, may be grown suc- 
cessfully all through Boise, Payette and 
Weiser valleys and in the more protected 
locations as far eastward as Twin Falls 
and possibly farther. Gooseberries and 
currants succeed well everywhere, but 
they are as yet grown chiefly for home 
use. Black raspberries and dewberries 
are grown commercially and are very 
profitable. Strawberries easily net $200 
to $400 per acre. 
Horticultural Statistics 
Two years ago the prophecy was made 
that the planting in the succeeding two 
years woud be greater than any previous 
time in the history of the state, and the 
results have more than fulfilled this 
prophecy. The reports of the deputy 
inspectors show that there has been about 
20,000 acres increase in the orchard acre- 
age of the state. In the main, this new 
planting has been wisely and carefully 
done. The lands selected usually have 
been adapted to fruit culture and the 
varieties have been wisely chosen. 
