COST OF PRODUCTION OF APPLES, PAYETTE VALLEY, IDAHO. 25 



In 1915 and 1916 atomic sulphur was used in some other sprays, 

 than the calyx and doubtless will be used more generally in the future 

 for the control of apple diseases, particularly mildew. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



There are some items which do not appear in the regular labor 

 column. These are classed as miscellaneous items. The principal 

 of these are cutting blight, cleaning laterals and waste ditches, mow- 

 ing weeds, hoeing about the orchard, and doctoring trees, and there 

 are many other small items which appear on but a few farm reports. 

 In this district miscellaneous labor is made up entirely of man labor, 

 the cost of which is $1.41 per acre, or $0.0042 per box. 



HANDLING THE CROP. 



The cost of handling the crop makes up 60.95 per cent of the total 

 annual net labor cost of production, or 26.30 per cent of the total 

 of all net costs. The items which go to make up this handling are: 

 Picking, orchard foreman, all packing-house labor, including sorting, 

 packing, nailing, stamping, waiting, etc., and any other labor about 

 the packing house, such as packing foreman. The hauling, which 

 is a part of the handling costs, includes hauling shooks from the 

 station, hauling empty boxes to and full boxes from the orchard, and 

 hauling packed boxes to the association or station. Before discuss- 

 ing these items it should be stated that a large number of men in 

 this region pick their fruit and haul it to the association or ware- 

 house where it is packed, the grower being charged a price which 

 varies with different branch packing houses of the central association. 

 At the time of this study, 14, or practically 37 per cent of the 38 

 growers, did not pack their own fruit, but took it to these associa- 

 tion packing houses, where it was sorted, sized, and packed. 



PICKING. 



Picking in this region is done very largely by day labor at the rate 

 of $2 per 10-hour day, although sometimes growers contract with 

 men to pick at $0.04 per box. The picking season usually begins in 

 early September and lasts until late in October. The first commer- 

 cial variety picked in this region is the Jonathan. Growers ordinarily 

 begin to pick these about September 10, or sometimes earlier where 

 apples are intended for foreign trade. Two or more pickings often 

 are made for such varieties as the Jonathan and Rome Beauty. 

 These apples are picked for color, and as all the apples on the tree 

 are not colored evenly at one time, it is desirable to make more 

 than one picking. Other varieties usually are taken off at one pick- 

 ing. On this account the grower can pick more boxes per day of 

 such varieties as Ben Davis than he can of Jonathan. 



