Table 4. Output of Cucumbers per Man Hour of Picking Time 

 by Grades with Varying Frequencies of Picking, 1951 Season 



Frequent picking of the field definitely required considerably more total 

 labor for the season. Moreover, as frequency of picking increased, the 

 poundage output per man hour decreased markedly from almost 200 pounds 

 per man hour when picking 1.4 times per week to a little over 50 pounds 

 per man hour when picking six times a week. 



The output per man hour of Grades 1 and 2 did not vary as much 

 for the various frequencies of picking as did output of Grades 3 and 4. 

 Less frequent picking resulted in greatly increased output of the lower priced 

 grades. 



When the yields of the four grades were combined on the basis of the 

 contract price of each grade, the output per man hour in picking cucumbers 

 was $2.62, $2.60, $2.08, and $1.28 for 1.4, two, three, and six times per 

 week respectively (Table 4). Thus in the 1951 experiment the output per 

 man hour in terms of both weight and value decreased with greater fre- 

 quency of picking, but because more frequent picking produced a greater 

 proportion of the higher value grades, the decrease in value output was 

 roughly half that of the poundage output. 



The use of value as a measurement of output in this connection is in- 

 fluenced by the particular grade and price arrangement of a processing 

 firm. With other grade and price arrangements, the results would be differ- 

 ent. The grade-price relationships offered growers reflect the needs of the 

 packer for the various grades of cucumbers. If the company wanted a higher 

 proportion of small sizes, it could raise the price of Grade 1. It could also 

 rearrange the size specifications of the grades. But when once the arrange- 

 ment of grades and prices is fixed for the season, the growers have the 

 privilege of harvesting the crop in a manner which will be to their advantage. 



Using the Experimental Results 



GROWERS ARE faced with one of two major types of decisions relative 

 to the harvesting of cucumbers. One of these would be in the situation 

 where the grower has a definite acreage of cucumbers planted and wants 

 to decide how many times a week to pick his plot; or stating it another 

 way, how many total hours of labor to use during the picking season. The 

 other type of decision would be required in the situation where the grower 

 has a definite amount of harvesting labor available, such as family labor, 

 and wants to decide how many acres of cucumbers to plant. In both of these 

 cases the decision is directed at the achievement of maximum net income 



