REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON PUBLICATION 



313 



5. Profits. In estimating the profits, we may assume that all the 

 samples would bring the same price. This is approximately true under 

 present market conditions for all, with the exception of some of the raisins 

 made very early in the season which might be objected to by the dealers. 



With this assumption, the gross returns would increase in the same ratio 

 as the crop. The net profits, however, would increase in a greater ratio. The 

 cost of raising the grapes would be the same and the cost of making the 

 raisins larger in the total, but somewhat less per ton. The estimates of the 

 following table have been calculated on this basis. A price of 5 cents per 

 pound has been assumed for the Muscat raisins and 6 cents per pound for 

 the Sultanina. A crop of 2,000 pounds at 20 Bal., which is a low estimate 

 for a well cared for vineyard in good soil. The cost of raising the grapes, 

 including all fixed and running expenses, such as interest, taxes, depreciation 

 and cultivation has been estimated at $37.50 per acre. The cost of making 

 the raisins, including all similar expenses, has been estimated at $12 per ton 

 for a crop of one ton per acre, with a suitable decrease for larger crops. 



These tests indicate that between the lowest degree of ripeness at which 

 grapes are ever picked for raisin making, 18 Bal., and the highest at which 

 it is usually possible, 28 Bal., there is an actual increase of weight of crop of 

 about 60 per cent, representing an increase of profit, when the raisins will 

 sell at 5 cents, from $41.40 per acre to $87.78 or 112 per cent. In the absence 

 of extended observations of the degree of ripeness at which growers usually 

 pick their grapes, it is impossible to estimate accurately how much of this 

 profit is lost on the average. A few observations made in vineyards selected 

 at hazard during the vintage of 1913, however, indicate that it is large. The 

 following table indicates the probable loss in the vineyards selected. A crop 

 of 2,000 pounds of raisins is assumed in each case for a Balling degree of 20 

 and the crop and net profit estimated for the Balling degree at picking. This 

 is compared with the crop which would have been obtained at 26 Bal., 

 calculated on the increase found in the experiments. 



