58 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



market, of course, this is not necessary. I do not know whether it 

 would be best to use paper in shipping in refrigerator cars or not. In 

 hauling berries to the home market, or for shipment, great care should 

 be taken not to jostle them. A spring wagon with a careful driver 

 should always be used. 



The same manner can be practiced in handling raspberries and 

 blackberries, except, of course they are picked without stems. 



G. W. Hopkins, Springtield, Mo. 



DISCUSSION ON RASPBEERIES. 



By Mr. Tippin — Some of us got the idea that it would be a good 

 idea to put paper over the top of berry crates before the lid is nailed 

 on ; my experience has been that it is very disastrous. Mr. Peak sent 

 up some 12 or 14 crates with heavy card board paper over them, and 

 they were almost a total loss. Just before I came here there was a 

 car-load of berries came in from Hood River, Oregon, grown by irriga- 

 tion, and it of course was not a fair test as they had been delayed two 

 days, but they all had paper over the top and the car was almost a 

 total loss. 



From my experience I could not advise, and I would admonish 

 anyone, not to use paper over the top of the boxes ; next year I think 

 I will leave more ventilation on the top of the crate than I did this 

 year. 



Question : I would like to ask Mr. Hopkins how he pays his pick- 

 ers for raspberries and blackberries ? 



By Mr. Hopkinsr-I used to pay two cents for raspberries; it is 

 worth more to pick raspberries than strawberries ; strawberries about 

 a cent and a quarter, or a cent ; I think a cent is a very fair price. I 

 believe at a cent a man can make good wages, for he ought to be able 

 to pick a hundred quarts a day, and that would be a dollar a day. 



By Mr. Mosely — I believe that a cent a quart throughout the sea- 

 son will make very good wages. In first starting I have paid a cent 

 and a quarter, and it would be rather poor wages made at that in con- 

 sequence of the berries being thin, and I used to say something like 

 this : if you will stay with us through the season and pick berries when 

 there are berries to pick, you can make good wages ; otherwise, if you 

 do not intend to stop but a short time it will hardly pay you to pick 

 berries today as you can't make very good wages at the price we are 

 paying. Now at a cent a quart in the height of the season when ber- 

 ries are at their fullest, rather a slight woman has made as high as $1.24, 



