APPLES 
Washington State College Estimate 
Cost of Raising Apples 
Washington estimates place the cost of 
raising and marketing one box of apples 
at 53.1 cents, while a New York orchard- 
ist says his cost shows an average of 
$1.10 a barrel for nine years. Aside from 
the value of Knowing how much it costs 
to do business is the more interesting 
feature that growers are coming to de- 
mand more knowledge of what their pro- 
duce costs them. No factory would think 
of doing business without knowing exact- 
ly what the output cost, and as a farm 
is nothing more or less than a factory 
The various items differ widely, and 
here is where the long term is valuable. 
A thought of the greatest importance 
is driven home by a review of these fig- 
ures. It is that profit begins after a 
certain point of production is reached. 
For instance, he says: ‘‘When our yield 
was 102 barrels per acre the cost per bar- 
rel was only 83 cents a barrel. When it 
was 30 barrels per acre the cost per bar- 
rel rose to $1.73. In 1910 we grew a crop 
of 55 barrels per acre for $1.20 per bar- 
rel.” In other words, the greater the 
crop the less the relative cost of pro- 
duction, so that cost per box or barrel is 
of little avail unless the output per acre 
Table Showing the Items of Expense in Producing Apples in a Six-Acre Orchard in 
Western New York 
Cover Spray 5% Equip- | Over- | Labor |; Total 
Year Crop | Material; Barrels | Interest! ment head Cost Cost 
on Land: Charge | Charge | 
1902 .... ../..... 6 6.64 ($117.88 | $27.45 | $25.00 $2.97 $339.45 $519.39 
1908... . 0 je... ee. 11.22 | 164.92 28.98 25.00 2.88 | 249.55 | 482.56 
1904 .......1. _ 10.50 | 109.90 30.50 25.00 3.93 , 180.55 | 360.38 
1905....... $ 6.10 12.45 88 .80 30.50 25.00 3.40 158.06 | 324.31 
1906........).. 20... 14.85 ! 112.35 33 .06 25.00 4.78 | 211.76 , 401.80 
1907........ 10.00 16.85 79.80 35.56 25.00 4.89 | 192.380 | 364.40 
1908........) ... eee. 9.75 | 205.45 37.76 30.09 7.09 | 298.50 | 583.55 
1909. 8.68 19.26 | 196.35 41.97 38.98 5.91 | 280.78 | 591.93 
1910..... ..J........ 23.89 | 116.90 45.75 32.39 6.88 | 175.26 | 399.77 
8-year average.... $13.94 $132.73 | $34.61 $27.93 | $4.60 ($231.25 $447.57 
Average per acre..... 2.28 21.76 5.67 4.58 | 75 37.91 73.38 
Average per barrel... 034 825 .084 068 | O11 565 1.10 
the farmer should know exactly what his is known. The one thing lacking in this 
output is costing him so that he may 
know whether or not he is prospering. 
The New York grower communicates 
the results of his nine-year bookkeeping 
to the Rural New Yorker. He _ sub- 
mits a table that shows he has been pains- 
taking. His figures contain two items 
that do not appear in the Washington 
table, namely, the interest on the land, 
and the overhead charges, such as taxes 
and insurance. On the other hand his 
table makes no mention of bringing the 
orchard to bearing, as does the Washing- 
ton figures. His orchard was from 36 
to 50 years old and contained 234 trees, 
or six and one-tenth acres. 
table is the output. 
In 1902, for example, the cost of spray 
was $6.64, while in 1910 it rose to $23.89, 
with various figures between these ex- - 
tremes. The cost of barrels varies from 
$79.80 to $205.45, from which column we 
may judge to some extent of the output, 
though there may have been a difference 
in the price. 
A most interesting column is that for 
interest on land. This has risen steadily, 
beginning at $27.45 for 1902 and ending 
with $45.75 for 1910. Overhead charges 
also show a tendency to increase. The 
year 1902 shows labor absorbing $339.45, 
and this has been greatly reduced. The 
