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for picking and delivering to the roadside, grove truck expense and a portion of over-

head and management expenses. Picking labor was allocated to the various types of

fruit from payroll analyses and piece-rates insofar as possible. Fuel and repairs were

prorated on a box-basis. Certain overhead expenses, in particular those which tend

to be fixed, were distributed between the several types of fruit in the inverse ratio of

the usual number of boxes picked per day by a picker. The average of these estimates

by operators placed two thirds as much overhead per box on grapefruit and twice as much

on tangerines as on oranges.

 Total picking costs for ten citrus dealers averaged 29.83 cents per box for oranges

 and 19,73 cents for grapefruit (Table 1). Costs varied from 22.67 cents to 33.97 cents

 per box for oranges, and from 15,90 cents to 23.77 cents per box for grapefruit. Only

 three of these operators picked tangerines with their own crews, and these picked only

 small quantities. The average cost per box for picking tangerines was 62.14 cents.

 Labor, including workmen's compensation insurance and payroll taxes, was the largest

 item of cost in picking fruit being about 84 percent of the total for oranges and grape-

 fruit and 87 percent for tangerines.

 For 19 packinghouses which operated their own crews, total picking costs for

oranges were 28.41 cents per box. The variation per box was from 25.53 cents to 33.88

cents. Grapefruit picking costs totaled 20.70 cents per box, ranging from 18.82 cents

to 23.56 cents. Total picking costs for tangerines averaged 60.81 cents. As with the

citrus dealers, the principal picking costs of the fresh fruit packinghouses were labor,

gas and oil, repairs, licenses, insurance and depreciation. These items were usually

complete in the records of the packinghouses, but some of the smaller overhead items

were not complete. Frequently such items as telephone, office expense, lights and