20 BULLETIN 1261, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Indirect expense is proportionately the same for the two kinds of 
fruit, 22 per cent, but is greater per box for lemons. The lemon 
houses studied required a larger investment per box packed than 
orange houses, although the average investment of the latter in equip- 
ment is greater. The average investment in fixed assets of the lemon 
houses studied was $10,000 for land, $64,000 for buildings, and $18,000 
for equipment, compared with an investment of $7,000 for land, 
$33,000 for building, and $24,000 for equipment for the orange houses. 
The greater investment in these assets means that charges for depre- 
ciation and interest are greater for the lemon houses. 
To show comparatively the cost of carrying investments in build- 
ings and equipment, interest on the fixed investment computed at the 
going rate for farm mortgages in California — 7 per cent — has been 
included as one of the overhead costs in this study. Depreciation is 
computed uniformly for all associations at 10 per cent per annum on 
equipment and 3 per cent on buildings. The charges for depreciation 
made on the books of the associations were far from uniform. Even 
in the same association the charge varied in accordance with the con- 
servatism of the management at a given time. A common charge for 
depreciation was 2 cents per box. 
Labor used in packing a box of lemons costs on the average nearly 
three times as much as labor used in packing a box of oranges. Table 
6 indicates that the increased costs are incurred in the operations of 
receiving, washing, storing, grading, and packing the fruit. These 
operations cost from two to nine times as much for lemons as for 
oranges, because hand labor must be employed instead of the elaborate 
equipment possible in an orange house. The other operations — box 
making and labeling, pressing and strapping, loading, and general 
labor — are about the same for a box of either fruit. Packing is almost 
three times as expensive as any other operation in an orange house, 
constituting nearly half of direct labor and amounting to 5.5 cents a 
box. Packing lemons averages 11.2 cents, but is exceeded by the 
expense of grading. 
Box shook amounts to nearly three-quarters of the total expense for 
packing material. The tissue paper which is wrapped around the 
individual fruits makes up all but 6 or 7 per cent of the remainder. 
Nails, strapping, labels, chip board, paste, and miscellaneous supplies 
together amount to 2 or 3 cents a box. 
Salaries of the administrative officers and office force are the most 
important indirect expense, amounting to 4.6 cents per box of oranges 
and 7.6 cents per box of lemons. 
Miscellaneous expense is made up of the residual expense items, 
which are handled in different ways by the various associations. 
Expense for repairs and maintenance, and for light, power, and water 
is greater per box for oranges than for lemons, because of the greater 
amount of machinery in an orange-packing house. Charges for 
taxes and insurance seem to be heavier in the average lemon house. 
