14 BULLETIN 1261, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
ciation ships. The fruit is again weighed and loses its identity at 
this point. Each grower is paid on the basis of the weight here 
recorded. The trays are trucked, or in some instances moved by 
conveyors, to the packing room. 
Mechanical sizers for lemons have been only indifferently successful 
on account of the irregular shape of the fruit, and lemons^ are almost 
universally sized by hand labor. More skill and time is required to 
pack a box of lemons than a box of oranges on account of the irregular 
shape of the lemon, the fact that the fruit is uniformly smaller, and 
because the packer must select the fruit according to size. Labor 
costs for this operation average 11 cents per box, compared with 5i 
cents for packing oranges. Lemon sizes range from 270 to the box, 
sometimes larger, to 442, 490, or smaller. The so-called standard 
sizes, 300 and 360, comprise the larger proportion of the fruit shipped. 
The 270 size is fairly common, and a small percentage in a shipment 
is not objectionable on many markets. Because lemons are sized 
roughly when they are picked, there are comparatively few com- 
mercial sizes. 
Loading Orange and Lemon Shipments. 
Orange boxes are loaded on end, two layers high, and six or seven 
rows wide across the car. The standard refrigerator car will hold 
33 such stacks, and the load will then consist of 396 or 462 boxes, 
depending upon whether it is six or seven rows wide. Lemons are 
generally shipped in ventilated cars and in no case are precooled. 
The load is the same as for oranges, except that on account of the 
greater width of the box a fewer number of stacks can be loaded 
lengthwise in the car. 
PACKING-HOUSE LABOR. 
For the most part Americans are used for packing-house labor, 
although Japanese and Mexicans are occasionally employed. All 
packing-house help, except the packers, are paid on an hourly basis. 
The rate of pay during 1922 averaged about 45 cents per hour. Sub- 
foremen, or men holding positions entailing some responsibility, were 
paid 50 to 55 cents, and positions requiring skill and experience, such 
as that of " pressman," box maker, or car loader, at the rate of about 
50 cents per hour. The packers are practically always paid by the 
box, with a higher rate for lemons than for oranges. Frequently there 
is added to the rate per box an extra amount (one and a half, or twice 
the usual rate) for small sizes or for fruit packed during overtime. 
Again, a bonus of half a cent per box may be paid to packers who 
remain with the association throughout the season. It was noted 
that where a bonus of this kind was paid the packers received somewhat 
less than those employed on a straight box basis at near-by points. 
Orange packers are paid from 4J to 5 cents per box, and lemon 
packers from 8 to 9 cents. Women are generally employed as packers 
PACKING-HOUSE EXPENSE. 
The operating methods of the associations are fairly uniform. 
There are differences, however, in the efficiency with which these 
methods are applied, and in this section, so far as the data permit, 
some of the factors that make for efficient operation are analyzed. 
Efficient operation may be measured partially by the net returns 
received by the members of an association. Local soil and cultural 
