Apple Growing

M >> M. C. Burritt >> Apple Growing

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(1) PRUNING.--Old and long-neglected apple orchards usually have a
large amount of dead wood in them. This may be removed at any time of
the year, but fall and winter are good times to begin the work. If the
trees are high and the limbs scattered and sprawling so that the
middle of the trees is not well filled out, the trees should be headed
back rather severely. Such trees may safely have their highest limbs
cut back from five to ten feet. It is best not to remove too many
branches in one year, but to spread severe cutting back over at least
two years, as so much pruning at one time weakens the tree and causes
an excessive growth of "suckers." Each limb should be cut back to a
rather strong and vigorous lateral branch which may then take up the
growth of the upright one. The effect of such heading back will be to
stimulate the branches lower down and probably to bring in more or
less "suckers." The following year the best of these suckers should
be selected at proper points about the tree, headed in so as to
develop their lateral buds, and encouraged by the removal of all other
suckers to fill in the top and center of the tree in the way desired.
All such severe heading in should best be done in the early spring.

(2) FERTILIZING.--At some time during the late fall or winter twelve
to fifteen loads of stable manure should be applied broadcast on each
acre, scattering it well out under the ends of the branches. This will
amount to a load to from three to five trees. In case manure is not
available, or sometimes even supplementary to it in cases where quick
results are wanted 100 to 200 pounds of nitrate of soda, 300 to 500
pounds of acid phosphate, and 150 to 200 pounds of sulphate or muriate
of potash should be applied in two applications as a top dressing in
spring, as soon as growth starts, and thoroughly worked into the soil.
This will give the trees an abundance of available plant food, which
is usually badly needed, and help to stimulate them to a vigorous
growth. Such heavy feeding may easily be overdone and should be
adjusted according to conditions and the needs of the orchard.

(3) CULTIVATING.--If the orchard has been in sod for a number of
years, as is often the case, it is usually best to plow it in the fall
about four inches deep, just deep enough to turn under the sod. By so
doing a large number of roots will probably be broken, but such injury
will be much more than offset by the stimulus to the trees the next
season. It is a good plan to apply the stable manure on the top of
this plowed ground early in the winter. Fall plowing gives a better
opportunity for rotting the sod and exposes to the winter action of
the elements the soil, which is usually stale and inactive after lying
so long unturned. In the spring the regular treatment with springtooth
and spiketooth harrows should be followed as outlined in Chapter V.

(4) SPRAYING in the old orchard is essentially the same as elsewhere.
It is necessary, however, to emphasize the first spray, the dormant
one, winter strength on the wood. This is the most important spray for
a neglected orchard and it should be very thoroughly applied. It is a
sort of cleaning-up spray for scale, fungus, and insects which winter
on the bark. In orchards where the San Jose scale is bad a strong
lime-sulphur spray should also be used in the late fall in order to
make doubly sure a thorough cleaning up. It is usually a pretty good
plan to scrape old trees as high up as the rough, shaggy bark extends,
destroying the scrapings. For this purpose an old and dull hoe does
very well. This treatment will get rid of many insects by destroying
them and their winter quarters.

PATCHING OLD TREES.--A few suggestions on patching up the weak places
in an old tree may not be entirely out of place. The question is often
asked, will it pay to fill up the decayed centers or sides of old
trees? If the tree is otherwise desirable to save, it usually will.
Scrape out all the dead and rotten material, cleaning down to the
sound heart wood. Then fill up the cavity with a rough cement, being
careful to exclude all air and finishing with a smooth, sloping
surface so as to drain away all moisture. This treatment will probably
prevent further decay and often acts as a substantial mechanical
support.

Trees which are badly split or which have so grown that a heavy crop
is likely to break them over should be braced with wires or bolts.
Where the limbs are close together a bolt driven right through them
with wide, strong washers at the ends is very effective in
strengthening the tree. Where limbs must be braced from one side of
the tree across to the other wires are the best to use. They may be
fastened to bolts through the limbs with wide washers on the outside
hooks on the inside, or by passing the wire around the branches. In
the latter case some wide, fairly rigid material such as tin, pieces
of wood, or heavy leather should be used to protect the tree from the
wire which would otherwise cut into the bark and perhaps girdle the
limb.

COST.--For the benefit of those who would like to get some idea of the
probable cost of renovating old apple orchards, the following estimate
made by the writer in a recent government publication on this subject
is given. This estimate has been carefully made up from actual records
kept on several New York farms. Because these costs are very variable
according to the condition of the orchard, both maximum and minimum
amounts are given per acre for the first year only.

Minimum Maximum
cost cost

Plowing $2.00 $3.00
Manure, 10 to 20 loads at $1, or their
equivalent in commercial fertilizer 10.00 20.00
Hauling manure 5.00 10.00
Pruning and hauling brush 5.00 10.00
Disking or harrowing twice 1.00 1.50
Disking or harrowing 3d or 4th time .50 1.00
Cultivating two to four times .50 1.00
Spraying once with L.S. dilution 1 to
9--material 2.00 4.00
Spraying once, L.S., labor 1.00 1.50
Spraying second time with L.S. dilution
1 to 40, labor and material 1.50 2.50
Spraying third time with same 1.50 2.50
------ ------
Total cost $30.00 $57.00

CHAPTER XII

THE COST OF GROWING APPLES

Two factors have always operated to deter many persons from taking up
fruit growing as a business or even as a side issue on the farm, and
they will probably continue to be an obstacle for more time to come.
These are the comparatively large investment required and the
necessarily long period of waiting before paying returns can be
obtained. Farmers who have not gone into the business of fruit growing
because they could not afford this heavy investment or to wait so long
for returns have been wise. Others who, though lacking the necessary
capital, still have planted heavily have learned to their sorrow the
importance of capital in the business both for the original investment
and to carry the enterprise. And yet with sufficient capital and the
proper conditions there is no more attractive or profitable line of
agriculture than fruit growing.

Who knows what it costs to grow an orchard to bearing age? Or what it
costs to produce a barrel of apples? We venture to say that very few
persons do. Because of the large investment both in fixed and in
working capital it is most important to know these costs. Moreover an
accurate knowledge of the financial conditions and facts in any
business is of first importance to intelligent management. For these
reasons every grower ought to keep careful records of the cost and
income from each field or orchard every year in order to determine as
accurately as possible what his crops have cost him per unit and per
acre and what rate of interest he has realized on his investment. As
farming becomes more intensive competition increases, costs multiply,
and the margin of profit on any given unit becomes smaller. It
therefore becomes increasingly necessary to have accurate records on
the cost of production.

FACTORS IN THE COST OF PRODUCTION.--The value of records depends on
their accuracy and on their completeness. There are a great many
factors which enter into the cost of production. For convenience these
may be classified as cash costs and labor costs. Labor charges should
include the work of both men and teams at a rate determined by their
actual cost or by a careful estimate. Man labor costs are easily
reckoned, as they are either simple cash or cash plus board and
certain privileges, the value of which should be estimated in cash.

The value of horse labor is more difficult to determine. It is made up
of interest on valuation, depreciation, stable rental, feed, care,
etc. A fair estimate of this cost is $10 a month or $120 a year for a
horse. Cash costs are interest on the investment and on the equipment
in machinery, etc., or rental of the same, taxes, a proper share of
the general farm expenses such as insurance and repairs of buildings,
telephone, etc., the cost of spraying material, packages, fertilizers,
etc.

There are many ways of keeping such a record. Any method which
accomplishes the result in a convenient and accurate manner is a good
one. It will usually be found necessary to keep a cash account or day
book, entering all items in enough detail to make possible their later
distribution to the proper field or crop, and also to keep a diary of
all labor. Any form of diary will answer the purpose, but one which
has ruled columns at the right side of the page in which to indicate
the crop or field worked upon, and the number of hours worked is more
convenient and therefore more desirable.

AN EXAMPLE.--For a number of years the author has kept such records on
his farm in western New York. As an illustration of the method and in
order to give the reader a general idea as to what the costs above
referred to are likely to be we venture to give the following tables.
It must be remembered, however, that practically everyone of the above
mentioned factors varies with the conditions under which the orchard
is managed and that these figures are not _an_ average but _one_
average and on one farm. True averages are arrived at only by bringing
together a large number of figures. In any case, the question of cost
is essentially an individual problem on every farm. These figures are
of value only as an example of the method and the cost on one farm
under its own special conditions.

The orchard for which the following figures were given was set in the
spring of 1903, and the records begin with that year and end with
1910, covering a period of eight years in all. Throughout this period
other crops have been grown between the tree rows, thereby offsetting
to a large extent the cost of growing the orchard. Forty trees at the
north end of the orchard are pears, but they have received
substantially the same treatment as the apples and have not affected
the cost. In 1904, 211 plum trees were set as fillers one way. The
apple trees were set 36 by 36 feet apart, so that, filled one way, the
trees stand 18 by 36 feet apart. The orchard is ten rows wide and
forty-seven long, containing in all 467 trees.

BRINGING TO BEARING AGE.--The first of the following tables is given
as a sample of one year's records, that of 1907, on this orchard in
order to show both the manner in which the costs were made up and what
the items amounted to in one year:

FIELD A--1907. FIFTH YEAR

Total Hours Cost Cost
hours Total per acre per per
Operation Man Horse cost Man Horse acre 100
Mulching 3 6 $1.05 .455 .91 $0.16 $0.22
Pruning 11 ... 1.65 1.67 ... .25 .35
Cultivating 1 7 7 1.75 1.06 1.06 .26 .38
Cultivating 2 10 10 2.50 1.51 1.51 .38 .54
Cultivating 3 6 6 1.50 .91 .91 .23 .32
Plowing in fall 47 94 16.45 7.12 14.25 2.50 3.52
Banking trees 12 ... 1.80 1.82 ... .27 .39
Harrowing 21 42 7.35 3.18 6.36 1.11 1.58
--- --- ------ ----- ----- ----- -----
Total lab. cost. 117 165 $34.05 17.73 25.00 $5.16 $7.30

4 loads manure at $1.50 6.00 .91 1.29
Equipment charge 1.15 .174 .25
Taxes 5.29 .801 1.13
Interest 38.48 5.83 8.23
------ ------- ------
Total cost $84.97 $12.875 $18.20

INCOME, COST AND PROFIT ON BEANS--FIELD A--1907

Income Cost Profit
75 bushels at $1.50 $112.50
31/2 tons pods at $6 21.00 $133.65 $94.50 $38.85

LOSS ON FIELD A--1907

Total Per acre
Net income from beans $38.85 $5.89
Cost of orchard 84.97 12.87
------ ------
Loss $46.12 $6.98

A summary of the cost of the orchard, the net income from the crop,
the income from the orchard and the profit and loss by years for the
eight years follows:

SUMMARY OF COSTS FOR EIGHT YEARS, FIELD A

Net Income
Crop income from Cost of 6.6 acres
Year grown from crop orchard orchard Profit Loss
1903 Corn $ 15.17 ... $109.87 ... $ 94.70
1904 Beans 42.57 ... 216.16 ... 173.59
1905 Beans 43.13 ... 83.78 ... 40.65
1906 Beans 120.90 ... 80.14 $40.76 ...
1907 Beans 38.85 ... 84.97 ... 46.12
1908 Corn 37.68 ... 64.22 ... 26.54
1909 Oats and
strawberries 100.61 $27.88 84.73 43.76 ...
1910 Wheat 60.70 38.65 96.35 3.00 ...
------- ------ ------- ------ -------
Totals $459.61 $66.53 $620.22 $87.52 $381.60

Net loss on field for eight years $294.08
Average annual loss 38.76
Total cost an acre, exclusive of income 124.27
Total cost an acre, including income 44.55
Total net cost a hundred trees 62.97
Total net cost an apple tree 1.37
Total net cost an apple tree, exclusive of income 3.80
Total labor cost an acre 35.09
Total cash cost an acre 89.19

We find that this orchard has cost $124.27 an acre during the eight
years of its life, but that the $79.72 an acre of crops grown in the
orchard has brought this cost down to $44.55 an acre. It is safe to
say that the orchard would have cost even more than it did had it not
been for the crops, for many operations charged directly to the crops
would of necessity have been charged to the trees. The cost a hundred
trees does not mean much, as it often happens that not all the trees
are covered by an operation and as the number of trees an acre greatly
affects these costs.

We have another and younger orchard upon which a record has been kept.
This orchard of five acres contains 126 standard apple trees,
"filled" both ways with 375 peach trees. It was set in the spring of
1908, so that the trees have grown four seasons. The permanents
(apples) are set 36 by 40 feet apart, so that, with the peaches
between, the trees stand 18 by 20 feet apart. A crop of beans has been
grown between the tree rows each season. The first season a full seven
rows, twenty-eight inches apart, were planted in the wider space; the
second and third season six rows, and the last season only four rows.
The crop has been very good each year until the last. One application
of manure, one crop of clover and one seeding of rye have been plowed
under, and in addition a liberal amount of commercial fertilizer has
been used with each crop. This year the peach trees bore their first
crop. The record of the four years is as follows:

SUMMARY OF THE COST OF A FOUR-YEAR-OLD APPLE AND PEACH ORCHARD

Net Income
Crop income from Cost of
Year grown from crop orchard orchard Profit Loss

1908 Beans $63.37 ... $130.12 ... $62.75
1909 Beans 66.70 ... $85.03 ... 18.33
1910 Beans 79.81 ... 83.39 ... 3.58
1911 Beans 53.20 $46.05 61.95 $37.30 ...
------- ------ ------- ------ ------
Totals $267.08 $46.05 $360.49 $37.30 $84.66

Total cost an acre, exclusive of income $72.10
Total cost an acre, including income 9.47
Total net cost a hundred trees 4.73
Total net cost an apple tree .376
Total net cost an apple tree, exclusive of income 2.86

These figures show a still lower cost of growing trees to bearing age.
After paying all expenses connected with the growing of the trees,
including the interest on the land at $150 an acre, and deducting the
net profit from the crops of beans and the sales from the first crop
of peaches we find that the growing of the trees has cost us $9.47 an
acre, or 371/2 cents an apple tree at four years old. Had no crop been
grown in the orchard it would have cost us at least $62.89 an acre
after deducting the income from the first peach crop. The peach trees
are now at full bearing age, and should show a good profit from this
time on. Possibly at five and certainly at six years of age this
orchard will entirely have paid for itself. The only possible further
charge which could be made against this orchard is the crop income
which might have been obtained from the land had the trees not been
there. We estimated that the presence of the trees cut down the crop
of beans from the land 30 per cent. As the average net income from
beans was $13.35 an acre this would amount to $4 an acre a year--an
insignificant sum.

IN BEARING.--Having given the reader an idea of the probable cost of
bringing an orchard to bearing age, it may be well also to give the
cost of producing apples in a mature apple orchard. Our bearing apple
orchard consists of 6.1 acres containing 234 trees. About one-half of
the trees, or 110, are 36 years old. The remainder are nearly 50 years
of age. As they are all in one block and handled together, the charges
cannot well be separated. One hundred and thirty-four of the trees are
Baldwins, 44 Twenty Ounce, 40 Tompkins County Kings, and the remainder
odd varieties. For the whole period of ten years the orchard has had
very good care and attention.

A cover crop was not sown every year, but when it was used the charge
was made against the orchard. The manure charge, omitted because of
uncertainty as to the exact amount applied and as to its real value,
is the only thing lacking in this table.

Two or three sprayings have been made every year. Until 1909, Bordeaux
mixture and Paris green were used, but since then the commercial
brands of lime sulphur and arsenate of lead have taken their place,
nearly doubling the cost of the spray material. The average cost of
the material for spraying has been $2.50 per acre, or nearly three and
one-half cents per barrel of apples harvested. In 1910 this cost was
$3.92 per acre and seven cents a barrel.

TABLE SHOWING THE ITEMS OF EXPENSE IN PRODUCING APPLES IN A SIX ACRE
ORCHARD

-------+------+--------+-------+-------+-------+-------+--------+--------
| | | | 5% | | | |
| Cover|Spraying| | int. | Equip.| O'vh'd| Labor | Total
Year | crop |mat. | Bar. |on inv.|charge |charge | cost | cost
-------+------+--------+-------+-------+-------+-------+--------+--------
1902 | |$6.64 |$117.88|$27.45 |$25.00 |$2.97 |$339.45 |$519.39
1903 | |11.22 | 164.92| 28.88 | 25.00 | 2.88 | 249.55 | 482.56
1904 | |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 | |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 | 192.30 | 364.40
1908 | | 9.75 | 205.45| 37.76 | 30.09 | 5.09 | 293.50 | 583.55
1909 | 8.68 |19.26 | 196.35| 41.97 | 38.98 | 5.91 | 280.78 | 591.93
1910 | |23.89 | 116.90| 45.75 | 32.39 | 5.58 | 175.26 | 399.77
1911 |10.50 |27.08 | 206.38| 45.75 | 32.39*| 5.53* | 275.00*| 602.63
-------+------+--------+-------+-------+-------+-------+--------+--------
10 yr. av. $15.25 $139.87 $35.73 $28.37 $4.78 $235.62 $463.07
Av. per acre 2.50 22.93 5.86 4.65 .78 38.63 75.92
Av. per bbl .036 .327 .084 .066 .011 .552 -1.08

* Partly estimated, records not yet complete.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

The cost of the package has varied from 28 to 38 cents and has
averaged about 321/2 cents, or $22.93 per acre. Of course the latter
amount varies greatly with the crop.

Interest has in all cases been figured at five per cent., but as the
price of the land has varied from $90 an acre at the beginning of the
period to its present valuation of $160,00 an acre, due both to its
improvement and to a general increase in the price of land, the
amount of interest has also varied. The same is true of the equipment
charge which has steadily increased each year. The average valuation
of the land for the ten-year period was $117.15 an acre. This means an
annual interest charge of $5.86 per acre, or 81/2 cents a barrel. The
equipment charge, which is interest, repairs, and depreciation on the
machinery used in the orchard, amounts to more than 61/2 cents a barrel,
or $4.65 per acre. Taxes and insurance on the buildings distributed
per acre for the farm average $.78 per acre, or a trifle over one cent
per barrel. These costs have also increased in the last few years.

Labor is the largest single item. For the first four years this was
estimated on the basis of the cost for the last six years, for which
more careful records were kept. It is computed at its actual cost to
us on the farm, which was 151/2 cents an hour for men and 131/2 cents an
hour for horses. This amounts to $4.25 per day for man and team. The
cost of the labor to grow, pick, pack, and market a barrel of apples
was 55 cents, or $38.63 per acre with an average yield of 70 barrels
per acre.

To sum up these items of cost we find that taking the average of ten
years with an annual crop of 427 barrels, or 70 per acre, on 6.1 acres
of old apple orchard that the costs per barrel have been as follows:
spray material, $.036; packages, $.327; interest on the land, $.084;
use of equipment, $.066; taxes, $.011; labor, $.552; and a total of
$1.08 per barrel. If the estimated cost of manure, six cents a barrel
be added, the total will be $1.14. As we have said, these costs per
barrel vary with the crop. When our yield was 100 barrels per acre the
cost per barrel was only $.99, but when it was 34 barrels per acre
this cost rose to $1.73 per barrel. In 1910 we grew a crop of 55
barrels per acre for $1.20 per barrel.

It may be of interest to some to know what the income and profit were
on this orchard. For this purpose we give the following table showing
the yield, income, cost, and net profit for each of the ten years, and
the average:

Yield in Income Income Cost Net Profit
bbls. bbls. inc. culls per bbls. inc. culls
Year per A. only and drops bbl. alone and drops
1902 103 $1.96* $1.46* $.83 $1.13 $.63
1903 71 1.90 2.23 1.11 .79 1.12
1904 51 1.66 1.78 1.15 .51 .63
1905 49 2.30 2.68 1.10 1.20 1.58
1906 53 1.96 2.25 1.25 .71 1.30
1907 34 3.49 4.10 1.73 1.76 2.37
1908 96 2.03 2.32 .99 1.04 1.33
1909 92 3.00 3.38 1.06 1.94 2.32
1910 55 2.69 3.03 1.20 1.49 1.83
1911 100 2.06 2.32 .99¤ 1.07¤ 1.33¤
----------------------------------------------------------------------
10 yr.
av. 70 2.15 2.47 1.08 1.07 1.39

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