MARKETING AND DISTRIBUTION OF WESTERN MUSKMELONS. 27 
Cost of Growing. 
Cleaning ditches $0. 20 
Picking crates used in field 1. 00 
Picking and packing, 400 flat <j 
crates per acre, at 9 cents 36. 00 
Hauling melons from field to shed . 4. 00 
Hauling 400 flat crates from shed 
to town, at 1 cent 4. 00 
Total. 
72. 10 : 
The actual records of growing costs taken from a large field of 
" pink-meat 7 ' melons at Glendale are as follows: 
Table 12. — Cost of production per acre of muskmelons at Glendale, Salt River Valley. 
Land rent $10. 00 
Plowing 2. 50 
Disking and harrowing 3. 00 
FuiTowing 75 
Seed 1.50 
Hoeing 3. 60 
Cultivating 2. 00 
Turning vines 65 
Labor of irrigating 1 . 90 
Irrigation water 1. 00 
As this field produced 400 flat crates of "pink meats" to the acre, 
the total cost was 18 cents per crate, to which must be added 10 cents 
for crates, nails, and wrappers, making the cost on board cars 28 cents.) 
In the Mesa district, where most of the green-meated muskmelons 
are grown, an estimate of costs was obtained from the grower of a large 1 
field of Eden Gems. The figures are based on a labor cost of $2.50 
a day per man and 75 cents a day per horse. The cultivation is 
based on the rate of 4 acres a day per man with a single horse. The 
following figures cover a typical melon field and are believed to 
represent the average, although it is known that costs in other fields 
may vary considerably from this: 
Table 13. — Cost of production per acre of muskmelons from Mesa district, Salt River 
Valley. 
Rent $15.00 Cultivating 4 times $3. 25 
Plowing, first time 3. 00 Training vines. 1. 25 
Plowing, second time 3.00 Water about 10 times, at 50 cents 
Harrowing, disking, and leveling. 3.00 per acre-foot 1.25 
Seed, at $1.25 per pound 1. 00 
Planting 5 acres per day 50 
Thinning and hoeing 2. 25 
Estimates of normal production in the Mesa district seem to agree 
that 150 crates per acre is a fair average. On this basis the grow- 
ing cost of the above field was 22.3 cents per crate. The total cost 
per crate on board cars was, therefore, as follows: 
Table 14.— Total cost per crate on board cars of muskmelons from the Mesa district, Salt 
River Valley. 
Growing cost $0,223 
Picking and packing (by contract) 22 
Hauling 
Total 33.50 
Shed fee 
Crate material 
.03 
. 01 
. 15 
Total 
. 633 
