AMERICAN-GROWN PAPRIKA. 23 



involved, thus showing the percentage of the total expenditure de- 

 manded for these different features of the problem. The results are 

 given in Table V. 



Table V. — Distribution of expenditures required in producing the paprika crop. 



Item of expense. 



Percentage 

 involved. 



Preparing and sowing the seed bed 



Preparing and cultivating land 



Transplanting plants to field and resetting to stand 



Fertilizers 



Picking the pepper fruit 



Handling peppers, care of fires during curing, etc 



Fuel bill (pine wood) 



Grading, sacking, handling, etc., including the price of sacks. 



Total 



3.5 

 9.3 

 3.2 



32.0 



24.7 



16.3 



3.7 



7.0 



The cost of picking was calculated on the weight of the fresh pods 

 picked by each individual. These pods were carefully weighed at 

 the end of the picking, and the price paid was 20 cents per hundred 

 pounds. This system of payment had the advantage of securing the 

 picker's best efforts and was familiar to him through his experience in 

 picking cotton. 



The fuel item is likely to vary according to the supply available 

 and the convenience of securing it. The other items will also show 

 some departures from those here given, since practice, and therefore 

 expense, will vary from year to year in the same place and between 

 places differently situated. The labor item is a very important factor, 

 absorbing probably half of the total expense, while of the items for 

 materials the fertilizer bill is by far the most prominent. 



OUTLOOK FOR THE FUTURE. , 



The outlook for the future of paprika culture in the United States 

 should be considered with reference to the possibility of its profitable 

 extension. It is not yet clear to what extent the spice manufacturer 

 or dealer will be able or willing to replace the paprika now imported 

 with the American-grown article. It is possible, and indeed probable, 

 that the home-grown article will fail to meet the taste of many 

 paprika users, but it is likely, on the other hand, in time to make a 

 place for itself with others. Assuming that the American article 

 could command the market now supplied by' imported Hungarian 

 paprika, and assuming also that the rough estimate of the annual 

 importation of this article is approximately correct at 500,000 pounds, 

 with an average production of 1,000 pounds of dried paprika pods 

 per acre, an area of 500 acres of paprika would supply the demand. 

 It is probable, however, that owing to the marked pungency of the 

 powdered pepper made by grinding the whole pod and the very 



