COST OF PRODUCTION OF APPLES, PAYETTE VALLEY, IDAHO. 27 



these loose boxes to the orchard is $0,006 per box. There are 24 

 growers who haul full loose boxes into the packing house, the other 14 

 hauling direct to the warehouse or association. An orchard truck is 

 generally used by the 24 who haul to their own packing houses, hauling 

 a load of 53 boxes at a cost of $3.96 per acre, or $0.0121 per box. 



All growers haul full boxes of fruit from the ranch to the association 

 or station. Twenty-four of these haul packed boxes, while 14 haul 

 boxes to be packed at the association. The average cost is $5.16 

 per acre, or $0.0153 per box. 



Table XII. — Average cost for hauling where a crew of one man and two horses is used. 





Number 

 practic- 

 ing. 



Boxes 

 per load. 



Number 

 of miles 



Cost. 





Per acre. 



Per box. 



Per box 

 per mile. 





24 

 38 

 24 

 38 



471 

 99 

 53 



72 



1.24 



$0.87 

 2.01 

 3.96 

 5.16 



$0. 0026 

 .0060 

 .0121 

 .0153 



$0. 0021 















1.32 



.0116 







When all hauling costs are considered they are found to amount to 

 $0.0306 per box. This is relatively low, as compared to the cost in 

 some regions, owing to the fact that most orchards here are in the 

 immediate vicinity of the shipping stations and also to the fact that 

 hauling the full boxes from the orchard to the rancher's packing shed 

 is done away with in the case of the 14 orchardists who haul their 

 loose boxes direct to the association packing house. 



PACKING-HOUSE LABOR. 



The principal items of packing-house labor are the sorting and 

 packing. As 14 of these men have their apples packed by the asso- 

 ciation, this discussion applies only to the 24 growers who do their 

 own packing. All these 24 growers have sorters for their fruit apart 

 from the packers. 



SORTING. 



Sorting in this region is nearly all done by hand, women being 

 largely employed for this work. As yet very few mechanical sizers 

 have been brought into the valley, except for use in association 

 packing houses. The apples are usually sorted into three grades; 

 extra fancy, fancy, and C grade. The apples that are used for cider 

 nearly all pass the sorters ; that is to say, these apples are taken out 

 by the sorters from the boxes of picked fruit. The labor of sorting 

 depends on the variety of fruit and its relative freedom from insect 

 or fungus injury. The sorters usually do not size the fruit, but only 

 sort it into the grades, the packer sizing his own fruit. 



