Voi.. LX IX No. 4032. 
NEW YORK, FEBRUARY 5, 1910 
WEEKLY, $1.00 PER YEAR. 
THE VALUE OF A FRUIT TREE. 
Cost of a Barrel of Apples. 
Could you give me an approximate figure as to what 
value per tree could be placed on Baldwin and Greening 
trees that average around 15 inches diameter, and which 
appear to be in good thrifty shape, except perhaps they 
need trimming and no doubt spraying for scale? If you 
could give me a rough idea as to what each tree might 
be valued at, and about what number of barrels of apples 
each tree should he good for with care and feeding, it 
will be greatly appreciated. j. e. 
Ithode Island. 
To answer correctly how much an apple tree is 
worth, is about as easy as to tell 
the value of a baby. In both cases, 
so many factors enter into the 
problem, that off-hand or general 
statements are of little value. 
Some apple trees pay good divi¬ 
dends on a valuation of two or 
three hundred dollars, while others 
of the same variety and age are 
worth less than nothing, because 
they uselessly occupy the land 
they stand on. Each case must be 
considered as a distinct problem, 
and the value of it found by 
weighing its peculiar circum¬ 
stances. Among the many factors 
that enter in the valuation, we 
may select the following as being 
among the very important con¬ 
siderations which the orchardist 
must obviously keep in mind. 
The location as regards fruit 
production. The location consid¬ 
ered in its relation to the market. 
The competency of the grower 
The trees must stand in soil that 
is congenial to the fruit and the 
variety, in a climate that is suita¬ 
ble, if the production of fruit is 
to be abundant. Continual wet 
feet, or a location exposed to the 
ocean gales, is not conducive to 
large production. A drive on al¬ 
most any of our country roads 
will supply many examples of 
trees that are struggling fruitlessly 
against an unkind environment, 
and the irrigated West has many 
illustrations of promising young 
orchards that have yielded only 
the bitter fruit of disappointment, 
because of the injury caused bv 
seepage and alkali. The trees mav 
have suitable climate and be on 
good soil, and still be unprofitable 
because it costs so much to place 
the fruit before the consumer. 
1 his is not so often the case with 
eastern growers although even in 
the East, there are many otherwise 
good localities, that are worth very little for fruit 
growing, because the carriers, with their allied nib- 
blers, take so many and such large bites out of every 
apple they handle. 
Even though the orchard returns satisfactory an¬ 
swers to the above questions, it may not be profitable, 
unless it is in the hands of a man who understands 
the business. As one man can make money from a 
herd of cows that will ruin a less competent dairyman, 
so an orchard will vary in productiveness and profit 
according to the skill and labor given it. Anyone can 
become rich at farming or orcharding, on paper, but 
it needs brains and work to do it with land and trees, 
generally speaking, for we see apparent exceptions, 
some of which are due to chance and some to a short 
perspective, to which time frequently gives an alto¬ 
gether different appearance. 
Having thus attempted to explain the difficulty in 
ascertaining the correct ‘value of an orchard unless 
fully informed as to the various elements which com¬ 
bine to give it value, we may venture to figure on a 
hypothetical orchard, in which the factors can be 
assumed, and from the figures so obtained, draw 
conclusions of some value in determining the worth 
of a real orchard. Accordingly, if we assume that 
the orchard is located on good soil, with a favorable 
HOW THE HOPE FARM TREES ARE CUT. Fig. 44 
climate, and near enough to market to secure average 
transportation rates, what returns and expenses arc 
to be reasonably taken into account, in order to obtain 
the balance upon which the value of the orchard 
depends? First; as to expenses. We may place the 
value of the land at $50 an acre. It costs me about 
$25 an acre each year, to care for apple orchards 
reasonably well; using clean culture, cover crops, 
some fertilizer and two or three sprayings each season. 
In 10 years the orchard should be self-sustaining, 
although it will take a couple of years more before 
it is really profitable. This brings the actual cost 
of an acre at 10 or 12 years of age to $250, to which 
should be added an interest and sundry charge, that 
at moderate rates will approximate $100, and with 
the cost of the land, the total cost is $400. If there 
arc 40 trees per acre the cost of each tree will ap¬ 
proach $10. What will the tree produce? After 12 
years the Baldwin or Rhode Island Greening can be 
depended upon to produce an average of one and a 
half barrels per y.ear for 40 or more years, making 
allowance for off years and the not infrequent weather 
accidents. This figure will be attacked by many as 
entirely too low, but if we consider that there are 
at least 250,000,000 apple trees in the country, with a 
crop in 190!) of about 25,000,000 barrels, or one peck 
to the tree, and' that so far as 
statistics show, the yield has never 
reached a bushel per tree, the 
stated yield, which implies a crop 
of between three and four barrels 
for the bearing years, can hardly 
be said to err on the side of too 
low an estimate. Unquestionably, 
there are many growers who do 
much better, but the average 
grower and the' beginner would 
better not expect to get the results 
of the expert, nor to conclude 
from an occasional large crop that 
the same results are to be re¬ 
peated every year. Accepting the 
yield as possibly not very far 
astray, it -brings the yearly pro¬ 
duction to 60 barrels per acre, 
and the cost of putting the fruit 
on the market will figure about 
as follows: Cultivating, spraying 
and fertilizing the bearing orchard 
$30 per acre or 50 cents a barrel; 
picking, sorting and barreling 25 
cents; barrel 35 cents; transporta¬ 
tion, including freight and cartage 
50 cents; commission 25 cents; 
making a total cost of $1.85 per 
barrel. If the fruit sells for $2.59, 
the net returns' will be 65 cents, 
or almost exactly $i a tree, which 
will be a 10 per cent on the cost 
under the conditions depicted. 
The boomers and theorists will 
hasten to show. that, the above 
statement rates the expenses too 
high and the returns too low, but 
the orchardist who for a long term 
of years clears $1 a tree every 
year must be ranked as a man 
who both understands and attends 
to his business. 
Consideration of the items 
which make up the bill of costs 
will make it evident that differing 
conditions may greatly alter the 
productive value of an orchard. 
If, for example, it is so situated 
that the transportation cost can 
he reduced to 10 cents, this one item will justify an 
increase in the valuation of at least one-third, and if 
the apples can pass directly from the grower to the 
consumer, without any intermediaries, the value of 
the orchard will be very much greater. So, too, if 
the cost of growing the orchard can be materially 
reduced, the investment will be so much smaller and 
the rate of interest earned will be that much greater, 
although there is danger in following this line very 
far, because it is easy to carry the cheapening of 
methods so far that they merge into neglect, and that 
is a sure way to get no profit at all. It is an old 
saying that a thing is worth what it costs, and al¬ 
though I question if it is generally true, yet it may be 
