226 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



button or buttonhole, or suspended about the neck of the picker), 

 by the person who attends to the filling of the crates. 



The picker is supplied with an eight box carrier, made to hold 

 four in each tier, and when the upper tier is filled it is lifted out and 

 set in the bottom and the four empty boxes put on top. (This has 

 reference now to the picking of raspberries.) By this means a min- 

 imum amount of sunlight is permitted to get at the fruit, and it will 

 reach the market in much better condition. Rapid pickers are 

 supplied with two carriers, and when one is filled they are required 

 to place it in the shade and cover it lightly with leaves until the 

 second one is filled. When the carriers are filled and brought to 

 the packing house, the one in charge personally takes each box out 

 of the carrier and places it in the crate, thus being enabled to note 

 the appearance of each box, and if all right the picker is given 

 credit on his card by punching the letter or letters indicating the 

 number of boxes delivered. Thus if an eight box carrier is brought 

 in an "H" is punched out of the ticket, if only three boxes a "C" is 

 punched, if a twelve box carrier is used an "H" and "D" are 

 punched. If the boxes are not up to the requirement, dirty or con- 

 taining green or overripe fruit, the picker may be docked a box or 

 more, in the judgment of the overseer, or if the boxes are not prop- 

 erly filled, one of them is used to fill the balance, and the picker is 

 given credit on his card for the full boxes only. It is a very repre- 

 hensible practice to permit pickers to carry crates to the field with 

 them and fill them in their own way, as it many times affects the re- 

 ceipts to the amount of several dollars a day. 



On Friday evening of each week the tickets are collected, the 

 amount due the picker is written on the back of his ticket, the 

 money, together with the ticket, is placed in a cash envelope with 

 the name of the picker written thereon, the envelope is sealed, and 

 on Saturday evening they are paid off, which occupies but a few 

 minutes, and there is no hurried computing or wrangling in the 

 presence of the picker. On Saturday morning of each week new 

 tickets are issued to the pickers, and they are held responsible for 

 the loss or mutilation of their tickets. 



At the beginning of the season a rule is established that a picker 

 is to remain during the picking season, and unless he can give a 

 very satisfactory reason, he forfeits his pay earned between the last 

 pay day and the time he leaves. This is a necessary protection for 

 the grower, as he cannot afford to spend his time running after 

 pickers after having once engaged a sufficient number, and this 

 precaution is doubly necessary at Lake Minnetonka, where picnics 

 and excursions are of almost daily occurance, and the temptation 

 to "skip" is very great. 



This system may not be new to many growers, but I can assure 

 those who have never tested it that it gives eminent satisfaction 

 and avoids all unpleasant friction between employer and employe. 



Mr. Hartwell, (111. ) : I use this same method somewhat modi- 

 fied. I have a contract with my pickers at one and one -half 

 cents per quart for the season for strawberries, with the un- 



