Picking and Packing 163 



are set across the field 150 feet apart and brackets are 

 nailed to them 6| feet from the ground. At the ends of 

 the brackets are fastened wires, which run through a 

 pulley. A box large enough to hold two or three crates 

 travels on the wire across the field to the packing shed ; 

 there it is unloaded and shoved back to the picker. 



SELECTION AND MANAGEMENT OF PICKERS 



The control of pickers requires judgment and tact to 

 an unusual degree. Several types of mechanical pickers 

 have been tried, but none has been successful. From 

 eight to fifteen pickers are required to an acre, accord- 

 ing to the yield and the skill of the picker. If a long 

 rain is followed by hot weather, more pickers are 

 needed. Have enough so that it will be unnecessary for 

 them to work over eight hours a day ; tired pickers are 

 careless. If there are too many pickers, they do not 

 make enough money and become dissatisfied. 



Relative value of different types of pickers. 



Pickers should be engaged early. If they come from a 

 distance, have camping facilities ready. An advertise- 

 ment in the want column of the nearest city paper will 

 bring many. Employment agencies may be utilized. Do 

 not take any with defective eyesight or who are physi- 

 cally unfit to do steady work. It is easier to get a large 

 number of pickers to stay through the season than a few. 



Most growers prefer women pickers : " Engage your 

 pickers, women first, then girls, and boys last," advises 

 Matthew Crawford. According to O. W. Blacknall, 

 " Women have a better eye for color, nimbler fingers and 

 are by nature more diligent than men. Then, what is 



