COOPERATIVE CITRUS-FRUIT MARKETING AGENCIES. 5 
which, will not pass through this ring, unless the lemons are "tree 
ripe"; that is, have attained a yellow color on the trees. When this 
occurs, the fruit is picked without regard to size. 
Picking expense includes the actual labor cost and a fixed amount 
to cover the general foreman's salary and the depreciation of equip- 
ment. In a few associations this fixed charge is pooled or carried as 
a general association expense. In one or two instances all picking 
• charges are pooled, and in a few a part of the direct-labor charge is 
carried as a general association expense. 
The most general practice is to deduct the cost of picking from 
money due the grower for his fruit. Some associations, however, 
insist that this charge shall be paid in cash by the grower, and deduct 
it from the returns only when the grower is delinquent. At least one 
association bills picking charges to its members payable in 15 days, 
and adds interest at the rate of 1 per cent a month after the account 
is due. 
Under conditions in 1921 it cost between 17 and 20 cents per 
field box to harvest lemons by association crews, and between 7 
and 10 cents per field box to pick oranges. The higher cost of 
picking lemons is caused by the slower progress made by the picker. 
Lemons are smaller on the average than oranges, the trees must be 
gone over 8 to 10 times in a season, and the fruit selected each time 
for size and color. 
Picking costs, aside from these differences between oranges and 
lemons, depend upon the size or age of the trees, the size and quality 
of the crop, the general wage level, and the efficiency of the manage- 
ment. Picking costs are nearly twice as high as they were five or six 
years ago. Wages were apparently slightly lower in 1921 than in 
1920, but picking costs per box of oranges increased in 1921, primarily 
because of the smaller crop. The increase in picking expense in 1913 
was caused by a freeze which reduced the yield per tree and injured 
the quality of the fruit. The picking expense shown in Table 1 
includes the picking foreman's salary, the expense of transferring 
crews from one orchard to another, depreciation of picking boxes, 
and similar items. 
Table 1. 
■Average picking expense per field box of a group of representative 
orange and lemon associations, seasons of 1911-1921. 
Season 
1911 
1912 
1913 
1914 
1915 
1916 
1917 
1918 
1919 
1920 
1921 
Oranges . 
Cts. 
5 
13 
Cts. 
5 
12* 
Cts. 
6 
15 
Cts. 
5 
14 
Cts. 
4 
13 
Cts. 
12 
Cts. 
5 
13 
Cts. 
5 
18 
Cts. 
7 
20 
Cts. 
7J 
22 
Cts. 
9 
Lemons 
20 
Picking costs per packed box are considerably higher than the cost 
per field box. The fruit is packed compactly for shipment, conse- 
quently a packed box contains more fruit than the field box. There 
is loss of weight from culling, and with lemons, loss from the necessary 
curing process. Investigations of the exchange indicate average 
picking costs of 13 cents per packed box for oranges and 36.4 cents for 
lemons in 1921. 
