28 



BULLETIN 636, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



The average sorter when doing nothing else will sort from 75 to 80 

 packed boxes in 10 hours, or about 125 loose boxes. The sorting 

 cost when the 24 orchards are considered is $8.84 per acre, or $0.0266 

 per box. 



Table XIII. — Average cost for handling other than hauling (38 records). 



Item. 



Picking 



Supervision by picking foreman. 



Sorting 



Packing 



Nailing and waiting 



Nailing 



Waiting 



Supervision by packing foreman. 

 Other packing labor 



Number of 



orchards I 



practicing. | 



Boxes in 

 10 hours. 



43.38 

 289. 86 

 75.19 

 55. 75 

 170. 94 

 312.50 

 259. 74 

 338. 98 

 196. 08 



Cost per 

 acre. 



815. 53 

 2.62 

 8.84 

 16.62 

 3.35 

 2.25 

 2.39 

 2.17 

 3.58 



Cost per 

 box. 



Number in 

 crev,-. 



SO. 0461 

 .0069 

 .0266 

 .0500 

 .0117 

 .0064 

 .0077 

 .0059 

 .0102 



3.21 

 1.00 

 3.54 

 5.63 

 1.00 

 1.00 

 1.00 

 1.00 

 1.22 



PACKING. 



The packing wage per box is ordinarily $0.05 for sorted apples. 

 Much of the packing is done by young women. In a few cases packers 

 are hired by the day. 



Provision for packing-house accommodations has been made by 

 nearly every grower. (See fig. 8.) Sometimes barns or sheds are 

 used for this purpose during the harvesting season. In a few cases 

 complete and well-arranged packing sheds have been built at a cost 

 of several hundred dollars. The average packing shed, however, docs 

 not represent a very great outlay of money. Often it is but a shed 

 or barn temporarily converted to this purpose. 



The packers have the apples before them sorted into the three dif- 

 ferent grades, which they size as they pack. The experienced packer 

 cr.n tell very readily by looking at the apple to what size it belongs. 

 Thus the average packer has three or four boxes before him in which 

 to put apples of the same grade but different sizes. The packer 

 is usually required only to wrap and pack the apples. In some cases, 

 however, the packer also lines the boxes, although this is often the 

 work of a waiter or extra helper in the packing house. 



The average number of packed boxes per day in the case of these 

 24 men is 55.7 per packer. 



NAILING, ETC. 



Seventeen of these 24 men make a practice of using one man for 

 nailing alone, while seven combine nailing and waiting. For those 

 who nail it was found that one man will do 312 boxes in 10 hours at 

 a cost of $0.0064 per box, while for those who nail and wait it is 

 found that the average man will do 171 boxes in 10 hours at a cost of 

 80.0117 per box. 



