TABLE 20.— Peach halves: Calculated cost of canning per case C24/2-l/2s), San Rafael area, Mendoza Province, 1957 and 1958 



Item 



1957^ 



1958^ 





Pesos per 



case' 

 129.936 



12.332 



5.274 



25.296 

 5.010 

 2.124 



14.440 

 3.490 



Dollars per 

 case' 

 3.42 



.32 

 .01 



.67 

 .13 



.06 

 .33 

 .09 



Pesos per 



62.699 



12.015 

 .665 



26.526 

 6.447 

 2.467 



21.310 

 2.599 



Dollars per 

 case' 

 1.65 



Itenufaoturing supplies: 



.32 





.02 



General supplies: 



.70 





.17 





.06 





.56 





.07 









193.116 



5.08 



134.708 



3.55 









70.925 



1.87 



30.043 



.79 









264.041 



6.95 



164.751 



4.34 







^ Season of lew production. 

 2 Season of high production. 

 ^ Case of 24 No. 2-1/2 cans. 



Parana Delta 



The Delta is the earliest fruit section in 

 Argentina. Fruit is not of high quality. Spray- 

 ing and fertilization are just beginning, and 

 mostly trial and error methods are being 

 used. For example, in one orchard trees were 

 noted with a high percentage of chlorotic 

 leaves where 2-4-D had been sprayed on in 

 an attennpt to induce faster growth and quicker 

 ripening of fruit. 



Some of the best growers are using mala- 

 thion sprays and connplete fertilizers but ap- 

 plication is sporadic, with no regular sched- 

 ule of application. Growers said that they 

 broadcast fertilizer around each tree at a rate 

 dependent on the applicator's idea of what the 

 individual tree needs. 



Fruit from orchards where sprayers are 

 used comes to market with a heavy coating of 

 spray residue. In the best packs this is wiped 

 off but in others it is ignored. 



TABLE 21. — Dried fruit: Fresh fruit for drying, value, and dried faruit 

 production San Rafael area, Mendoza Province, 1957 season 





Fresh fruit dried 



Produc- 

 tion 

 dried 



Amount 



Kind and 



^an- 

 tity 



Value 



fresh to 

 yield 



variety 



Total 



Per 

 pound 



1 

 pound 

 dried 



Prunes: 



D'Agen 



President 



Peaches : 



ding, whole, 



pitted 



Cling, whole, 



xinpitted 



Freestone, 



halves 



Povnds 

 2,577,000 

 113,000 



69,100 



20,900 



8,200 



Pesos 

 2,007,000 

 111,000 



47,000 



14,000 



5,500 



Dollars 

 52,800 

 2,900 



1,225 

 370 

 145 



Dollars 



0.020 



.026 



.018 

 .018 

 .018 



Pounds 



948,100 



33,100 



7,100 

 4,200 

 1,700 



Pounds 

 2.7 

 3.4 



9.7 

 5.0 



4.8 



Most of the fruit is unclassified and sold 

 that way. It shows scars, bruises, insect 

 marks, and the like to varying degrees and is 

 in varying stages of soundness. This fruit 

 being first on the market each year sells at 

 relatively high prices and almost always meets 

 a very good demand. However, when graded, 

 packed fruit fronn Rio Negro and Mendoza 



arrives on the market, it is no longer possible 

 to sell Delt^ fruit. A large portion of Delta 

 apples goes into cider. 



Most of the growers are relatively wealthy 

 men and have always made a good profit on 

 fruit. Each grower owns his own launch to 

 transport his fruit to market. The big growers 

 own their own packinghouses, cold storage 

 plants, and in some cases processing plants. 

 Their homes are equipped with modern re- 

 frigerators operating on kerosene and those 

 that want thenn own tractors and some other 

 machinery. Thus, the few people doing exten- 

 sion work in the area find it extremely diffi- 

 cult to convince these growers that there is 

 anything wrong with the way they have been 

 operating. 



Fruit moving from the Delta is transported 

 by boat to the Tigre market, northwest of 

 Buenos Aires. There the grower ties up to the 

 quayside and then can sell his fruit in any of 

 three ways: to merchants who maintain opera- 

 tions in rented stores in the ceniet of the quay, 

 to buyers from Buenos Aires firms who come 

 to the quayside market, or to the local popu- 

 lace who also patronize the market. The latter 

 usually come in large numbers on week ends 

 and holidays, and even on weekdays much fruit 

 is moved to this local outlet. 



The merchants who maintain establishments 

 on the quay buy from the growers' launches, 

 repack fruit from growers' baskets, return the 

 baskets to the grower, and ship to Buenos Aires 

 and other markets in Argentina. Costs do not 

 seem to be an important consideration to these 

 people. When asked what they estinnate the cost 

 of transportation of the fruit to market might be 

 they usually say, "We own our own trucks (or 

 launch as the case may be) and thus cost is not 

 important. " Possibly this is the simplest and 

 best approach, as the cost for those few who 

 use commercial freighters from Tigre to Buenos 

 Aires is only about 1-2 pesos (2.6 to 5.2 cents) 

 per box. 



Fruit nnoving fronn Tigre to Buenos Aires 

 travels about 45 nniles, all by truck. In Buenos 



13 



