434 



Cost of Harvesting Potatoes. 



[Aug., 



average raised and pitted 25 tons 12 cwt. per day — though in 

 one instance the figures were as high as 36 tons 13 cwt., probably 

 the result of superior organisation on the farm. The highest 

 quantity lifted and pitted from the heavy soils by a " working 

 unit " was 15 tons, whilst the average was as low as 13 tens 

 17 cwt. The weight of the crop per acre is also not without 

 influence on the quantity lifted per day, as will be seen from the 

 following Table, which relates entirely to crops produced from 

 the various classes of light and medium soils. 



Tonnage lifted i^er day 



Crop per acre. by unit. 



Tons. Cwt. Tons. Cwt. 



Holding No. 1 11 — ^ 36 13 



„ 2 10 — ^ 30 — 



„ 3 10 — 27 10 



„ 4 9 - 27 - 



„ „ 5 7 — 18 8 



„ „ 6 6 — 12 — 



„ 7 3 2 7 - 



3. Costs. — The figures have been deliberately presented so 

 far without any reference to cost. In these changing times, 

 any prices mentioned only remain of value for a limited period, 

 and often are out of date before being published. So far as 

 labour for potato raising is concerned, the wages have been 

 fixed by the Wages Boards for the respective districts, end 

 naturally vary for each district and for each class of labour. 



All horse labour is charged on the assumption that the grower 

 had to hire the necessary horses at the current rate of the dis- 

 trict, which on the average appears to be 13s. 6d. per day. The 

 average wage for a foreman is 12s. 6d. per day; for skilled 

 labourers, such as horsemen, &c., 9s. 9d. per day, for labourers 

 9s. per day, and for women 5s. per day. 



The daily cost of maintaining a ' ' working unit ' ' with a digger 

 on harvesting potatoes, as determined from the returns sent in, 

 VLud at the prices stated, would therefore appear to be 

 ^012 13s. 6d. This means that the average cost of harvesting 

 a ton of potatoes grown on the lighter and heavier classes of soil 

 would appear to be 9s. lid. and 18s. 4d. respectively. 



The figures bring out in a striking manner the financial 

 disadvantage of the grower of potatoes on heavy solis : (1) His 

 cost of preparatory cultivation is greater and the com- 

 parative cost of raising his crop is higher, than that of his 

 fellow farmers on the light loams; and (2) the crop from the 

 heavy lands will be appreciably smaller than from the light loams. 



