COST OF PRODUCING APPLES IN HOOD RIVER VALLEY 



11 



west sections. Both whites and Japanese are employed. White 

 help, employed by the month, receives wages varying from $25 to 

 $40 per month with board, or $40 to $60 per month without board. 

 Much of the orchard work is done with day labor at 20 to 25 cents 

 per hour. Japanese labor is cheaper, costing 17^ cents per hour, and 

 is used largely for strawberries. Growers say the Japanese are good 

 laborers if a white foreman superintends. Except as house servants, 

 Japanese are rarely employed by the month. 



On the 54 orchards taken into account in this investigation the 

 average rate paid for all kinds of labor for the past few years was 



Fig. 3. — One of the many bungalow homes found in the rural districts of the valley. 



22^ cents per hour, or at the rate of $2.25 per day. Month labor 

 usually is fully as expensive per hour in this region as day labor, 

 for it often occurs that little productive labor is done on certain days 

 where a man is employed by the month. In order to make the 

 records comparable the average rate of 22 J cents per hour is used 

 on all the farms. 



An operator's time is charged at the same rate as the men he em- 

 ploys. If he were paid for his managerial ability each operator 

 would receive a different wage; for all practical purposes it is best 

 to figure all man-hours at the same rate. Horse labor is figured at 

 the rate of 15 cents per hour. 



