COST OF PRODUCING APPLES IN YAKIMA VALLEY. 57 
Where a wiping machine is used, which in the case of these records 
is only in the Zillah district, the sorting cost is less than that where 
no such machine is used. At one end of the wiping machine the 
apples are fed into an endless carrier by one or more men. On 
either side of the carrier is a rotating cylinder covered with strips 
of cloth, which serve to wipe the fruit clean from spray material 
or dust before it reaches the sorters. It is claimed that the wiping 
ereatly aids the sorter, enabling him readily to detect worm stings 
or marks. In addition to this the machine if properly handled will 
assure. the steady flow of apples to the sorters. . 
Many orchardists claim that this machine is practical only where 
the crop is at least 2,000 boxes, although it would seem that its use 
would be practical for a smaller crop. 
Where mechanical sizers are used, sorting is usually more rapid, 
for the apples are placed on a sorting table, which enables the sorters 
Fic. i13.—Four kinds of packs used in packing box apples. The size of apple usually determines 
; the pack. 
to work more rapidly and more conveniently. In such cases there 
_ is always one man to wait on the sorters or dump the apples on the 
sorting table. Mechanical sizers are coming into more general use. 
PACKING. 
On 100 of the 120 farms considered in this survey the growers packed 
their own apples. Forty-five of these men are located about North 
Yakima and 55 in Zillah, or the lower valley district. Packers are 
usually paid by the box, at from $0.03 to $0.05 per box. Both men 
and women are employed as packers. An average day’s work for the 
valley was 72 packed boxes. In addition to the 100 men who pack, 
there are 8 who sort and pack. This is slower work when done by the 
piece. The pay is from $0.01 to $0.02 more per box than for merely 
packing. The seven orchardists in North Yakima who sort and 
pack 59 boxes in 10 hours, at the rate of 6 cents per packed box, give 
a fair average for the walle: 
The diagonal pack is used (see fig. 13) and apples are sized by the 
packer, unless a mechanical sizer is used, in which case the rate paid 
per box is less, usually $0.03 to $0.04. 
