COST OF PKODUCING APPLES IN YAKIMA VALLEY. 



55 



There were 25 orchards in which one man was constantly employed 

 in hauling boxes to and from the orchard. The average cost for 

 this operation was $0.0124 per loose box, or $0.0186 per packed box. 

 One hundred and eight orchardists make a practice of hauling 

 empty boxes to the orchard and full boxes to the packing house on 

 the ranch, at a cost of $0.0216 per packed box. The orchard hauling 

 charge, considering the 120 orchards, whatever the size of crew or 

 method employed, was $0.0205 per packed box. (See Table XLII.) 



PACKING-HOUSE LABOR. 



Packing-house labor includes sorting, packing, nailing, waiting 

 on the packers or sorters, foremen services, and any other packing- 



Fig. 12.— A packing crew on a small ranch in the Yakima district. Most men pack all their fruit 



inside the packing house. 



house labor, such as the service of truckers or men employed to 

 handle the boxes about the packing house. (See fig. 12.) Ordinarily 

 extra help is employed only where a large packing crew is used, the 

 members of the family usually making up the crew. 



The packing-house-labor cost for the 64 farms about North Yakima 

 was $45.47 per acre, or $0.0984 per box, and $45.64 per acre, or 

 $0.1147 per box, for the' 56 farms about Zillah or the lower Yakima 

 Valley. If the 120 farms studied are considered, the average cost 

 was $45.55 per acre, or $0.1054 per box, or 30.57 per cent of the total 

 net maintenance and handling costs. (See Table XL.) 



