iS^RKETIXG AXD DISTEIBUTIOX OF WESTERN MUSKMELOKS. 27 



Cost of Growing. 



The actual records of growing costs taken from a large field of 

 "pink-meat" melons at Glendale are as follows: 

 Table 12. — Cost of production per acre of mushmelons at Olcadale, Salt River Valley. 



Land rent |10. 00 



Plowing 2.50 



Disking and harrowing 3. 00 



Furrowing 



Seed 



Hoeing 



Cultivating 



Turning vines 



Labor of irrigating. 

 Irrigation water. . . 



.75 

 1.50 

 8.60 

 2.00 



.65 

 1.90 

 1.00 



Cleaning ditches $0. 20 



Picking crates used in field 1. 00 



Picking and packing, 400 flat 



crates per acre, at 9 cents 36. 00 



Hauling melons from field to shed . 4. 00 



Hauling 400 flat crates from shed | 



to town, at 1 cent 4. 00 



Total. 



^'2. 10, 



As this field produced 400 flat crates of ''pink meats" to the acre,i 

 the total cost was 18 cents per ci*ate, to which must be added 10 cents 

 for crates, nails, and wrappei-s, making the cost on board cars 28 cents. I 



In the Mesa district, where most of the green-meated muskmelons 

 are grown, an estimate of costs was obtained from the grower of a large ' 

 field of Eden Gems. The figures are based on a labor cost of $2.50 

 a day per man and 75 cents a day per horse. The cultivation is 

 based on the rate of 4 acres a day per man with a single horse. The 

 following figures cover a typical melon field and are beheved to 

 represent the average, although it is known that costs in other fields 

 may vary considerably from tliis: 



Table 13. — Cost of production per acre of mushmelons from Mesa distfict, Salt River 



Valley. 



Rent $15. 00 



Plowing, first time 3. 00 



Plowing, second time 3. 00 



HaiTowing. disking, and leveling. 3. 00 



Seed, at $1.25 per pound 1.00 



Planting 5 acres per day 50 



Thinning and hoeing 2. 25 



Estimates of normal production in the Mesa district seem to agree 

 that 150 crates per acre is a fair average. On this basis the grow- 

 ing cost of the above field was 22.3 cents per crate. The total cost 

 per crate on board cars was, therefore, as follows : 



Table \A.~Toi(il cost per crate on hoard cars of mushnelons from the Mesa district, Salt 



River Valley. 



Growing cost jjO. 223 



Picking and p.HkinL' (}>y ronlcact) 22 



Haiilini O:; 



Shed U:<- 01 



Crate material 15 



Cultivating 4 times |3. 25 



Training vines 1. 25 



Water about 10 times, at 50 cents 



per acre-foot 1. 25 



Total 33.50 



Total G33 



