-10-


 Table 3.--Average Capital Invested in Citrus Picking and Hauling
 Equipment, 17 Firms, 1951-52 Season

 I ,Average Investment
 Item -----
 m Per Firmn/ Per 1,000 Boxes Handled-i
 Land $ 4,130 $ 7.09
 Buildings 2,147 3.69
 Autos, Trucks, Trailers 38,689 66,46
 Boxes, Ladders 6,148 10.56
 Other Equipment 2,990 5,14
 Office Furn. & Fixtures 1,139 1.96

 Total $55,243 $94.90
 i/ Depreciated value. Cost would be much larger except for land.
 / Volume on which any service was performed buying and selling,
 picking, hauling, or any combination of services.


 Revenue from sales of fruit and services was obtained from 11 citrus dealers,

 together with fruit purchases and total operating costs. Fruit sales averaged

 $0.949 per box, and purchase price on the tree averaged $0.626 per box, but it

 could not be divided by type of fruit. Most of it, however, was oranges. Four

 of the firms showed a net loss on all operations for 1951-52 and seven showed

 profits. Three firms with net gains had very small gains in relation to their

 total volume. The 11 firms had an average net gain of 1.33 percent of their

 sales. It appears that most operators who made a profit made it from the opera-

 tion of buying and selling fruit, This was hazardous, and resulted in some losses,

 but also seems to have been the principal source of profit. On-tree buyers must

 risk market declines and weather hazards before the fruit is picked, as well as

 yield, in the case of bulk or grove buying.

 Variation in Costs Between Firms

 Total costs vary rather widely between firms for providing the same service.

These variations in total costs per box are shown in Tables 4, 5, and 6.

 Not enough is known about the individual firms' operations to provide much

information about reasons for costs, being high or low. Aside from the factor of

management, (some operators are more frugal and efficient managers than others)