THE BUSINESS OF AGRICULTURE 



HI 



Table 29. — Labor required to grow onions from seed 



' 22.5 per acre. 



garden beds, the necessary nursery bed, and the 

 preparation of suiEcient seed for the nursery 

 needed for the final crop of onions. This does 

 not mean that any Indian tries to come out even 

 with his seeds, seedlings, and onions. Since 

 onions are bought and sold at all stages, it makes 

 no difference. 



Besides the labor (and tool depreciation) the 

 only costs entering into the onion-growing com- 

 ple.x are for fertilizer and for leaves, frequently 

 purchased from Ladinos. About 1,200 pounds 

 of coffee-leaf fertilizer are normally used in a 

 cuerda, or 6,740 pounds per acre, worth $3.40. 

 The six loads of large leaves used to cover the 

 planted seed in a nursery bed cost at the rate of 



Table 30. — Labor required in growing onion seed 



about $1 an acre. Cornstalks used for fencing 

 are gathered, not purchased; the value of the time 

 involved is too small to count. 



The cash value of onions in Panajachel varies 

 according to whether they are sold by the tablon, 

 the buyer harvesting and preparing, or by the 

 thousand or hundred, the producer preparing 

 them for market. About 10 percent of the onions 

 produced by resident Indians (chiefly Jorgeiios) 

 are regularly sold by the tablon. Since the dif- 

 ference in price reflects the cost of labor in harvest- 

 uig and is thus a difference in cost-of-production, 

 it may for the time being be disregarded. Con- 

 cern about the proportion of onions produced in 

 different seasons, when the prices are different, 

 likewise does not seem necessary; for since the 

 season of plentitude is the season of low prices, 

 and vice versa, the average is naturally weighted. 

 Using as a basis the 1936 "normal" prices in 

 Panajachel (see Appendix 2), the cash value in 

 Panajachel or Solola of the yield of an average 

 acre of onions may be simply calculated: 



Large onions $103. 12 



Medium onions 33. 75 



Small onions 7. 43 



Total 144.30 



A comparison of these figures with those of table 

 28 shows the following net profits: 



Onions grown from home-grown 



seed $24. 91 



Onions grown from bought seed, but 



home-grown seedlings 17. 15 



Onions grown from bought seed- 

 lings 8. 37 



Thus normally it pays fairly well to grow^ onions. 

 If a particular field suffers extraordinary vicis- 

 situdes, obviously the farmer might lose rather 

 than profit. On the other hand a farmer's 

 profits may occasionally soar, if his yield is good 

 when prices are high. Such circumstances must 

 be rare ; for if in one field in a terrain as small and 

 homogeneous as the Panajachel delta yields very 

 well or especially poorly, the others are apt to 

 do the same, and market prices will be affected. 

 (But the market price depends on yields in other 

 areas as well.) It is obvious, however, that the 

 care given the onion fields is of great importance; 

 for that must definitely be reflected in the yield 

 of a particular plot. 



It is also apparent that it pays to rent land for 



