COOPERATIVE CITRUS-FRUIT MARKETING AGENCIES. 
25 
chased through the Fruit Growers Supply Co., may be wasted in 
large quantities under careless management. A certain amount of 
unnecessary waste of box shook is also likely to occur unless close 
supervision is maintained. 
Table 8. — Average annual shipments and average packing-house expense (in cents 
per packed box), of 11 associations handling oranges only, and 6 associations 
handling lemons only, for the three-year period, 1919-1921. 
[Association numbers refer to Table 3 for oranges and to Table 4 for lemons.] 
Association No. 
Average 
boxes 
Material. 
Labor. 
Indirect 
packed. 
Number. 
Cents. 
Cents. 
Cents. 
400, 226 
35.4 
12.0 
9.0 
379, 949 
39.6 
14.0 
8.9 
328, 724 
35.2 
13.9 
11.6 
290, 937 
36.2 
13.9 
8.0 
265, 268 
37.3 
14.1 
6.6 
437, 575 
36.9 
13.0 
10. 1 
184, 415 
36.0 
9.9 
9.4 
118, 999 
32.8 
14.9 
14.0 
117,995 
39.5 
13.2 
12.1 
115,917 
38.3 
15.6 
14.1 
110, 168 
3*6.4 
14.0 
13.6 
328, 223 
41.7 
38.8 
12.0 
210, 380 
39.9 
43.8 
16.6 
132, 620 
44.3 
52.9 
18.9 
108, 929 
39.8 
38.9 
15.3 
65, 781 
39.6 
48.4 
26.0 
60, 445 
39.0 
39.6 
13.7 
Total 
packing 
expense. 
Oranges 
4... 
2... 
3.-. 
6... 
10_. 
12. . 
13.. 
16.. 
19.. 
18. . 
17... 
Lemons 
1... 
3... . 
6... 
7... 
10.. 
12.. 
Cents. 
56.4 
62.4 
60.8 
58.1 
57.9 
56.0 
55.3 
61.7 
64.8 
68.0 
64.0 
92.5 
100.4 
116.0 
94.0 
114.0 
92.2 
Differences in the expense for labor are more striking and more 
dependent upon managerial efficiency. In general, labor costs in the 
fruit-packing industry depend upon: (1) The wage scale, (2) the expe- 
rience and efficiency of the workman, (3) supervision, (4) the kind or 
quality of fruit handled, and (5) the layout of the packing plant and 
the use made of labor-saving machinery. The wage scale is fixed by 
competitive conditions, and in general is not susceptible to the control 
of the association managers. The problem of securing experienced 
packing-house labor is one that affects associations in remote districts 
more seriously than those near centers of population. This, however, 
is a fixed condition, and one which a manager can change only by 
offering special inducements to experienced help. Whether it is 
posssible to secure a full quota of experienced help or whether inex- 
perienced workers must be trained will influence labor costs to some 
degree. 
The third factor, supervision, is one of the most important in main- 
taining a low labor expense. This means seeing that each employee 
is given work for which he is best adapted and is performing the task 
to which he is assigned; and it means planning the work in such a way 
that there is no lost motion and that time is not lost by one depart- 
ment being obliged to wait for another for long periods. No hard and 
fast rules can be laid down for securing the effective supervision of 
labor. The results obtained will depend primarily upon the ability 
and personality of the manager and foreman. 
The nature and quality of the fruit handled affects labor costs 
materially; but aside from making special provision to handle off- 
grade or frost-damaged fruit, such conditions must be accepted as 
