COST OF PRODUCING APPLES IN WENATCHEE VALLEY, WASH. 31 



Table XXIV. — Hauling to shipping point — Average distance and time and boxes per 



load for each crew. 



Number 



of 

 records. 



Number of — 



Miles. 



Hours 

 per load. 



Boxes 

 per load. 



Men. 



Horses. 



68 

 13 



1 

 1 



2 

 1 



1.78 

 1.32 



2.37 

 1.42 



89.69 

 46.53 



Where all records were considered, the average cost for hauling per 

 mile per packed box was $0.0082. 



CULLS. 



A problem worthy of much consideration by the growers of the 

 valley is that of the disposition of apples which are not packed for 

 market. 



As in many other apple-producing regions, growers do not believe 

 that the money received for the cull fruit pays them for the handling. 

 This requires, in many regions, the picking of culls from the ground. 

 There are, however, many apples which are culled in the packing 

 house during sorting and packing. 



The handling of this grade of apples has been adversely affected in 

 more ways than one. In a short-crop year when prices are good the 

 growers do not feel the necessity of handling the culls for the prices 

 which the owners of the by-product plants will pay. In years of low 

 prices, which are generally years of large crops, the by-product com- 

 pany usually is not able to handle the whole cull crop of a district. 

 This condition has been unfavorable to the development of the by- 

 product industry. No doubt there are many other factors which are 

 equally important in discouraging its advancement. In this study 

 no account has been taken of the cull apples, since at the time when the 

 survey was made there was no important by-product plant in the 

 valley. 



Wayne County, N. Y., produces very large quantities of dried 

 apples. Many of the farms there are small, but it is not uncommon 

 for the orchardist to own and manage his own drier plant in connection 

 with his regular farm business. Some orchardists who do not have 

 enough drier stock of their own find it easy to buy sufficient quantities 

 at reasonable prices from their neighbors. The initial investment is 

 not great. Such a plan might prove of interest and value to the 

 growers of Wenatchee Valley. 



LABOR COSTS. 



The total labor cost in clean cultivated orchards was $179.09 

 per acre, or $0.3020 per box. The labor cost prior to harvesting 



