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.