Quantity Picked. 2 1 3 



the store ; and so are not only wasted themselves, 

 but infect the other beans with mildew, and spoil 

 the sample generally. 



For picking, each coolie is provided with a large 

 and a small bag ; the former being sufficiently 

 large to tie up when containing an imperial bushel 

 and a half or even two bushels of fruit, while the 

 other need only be capable of holding an eighth of 

 this quantity, it being worn round the waist of the 

 picker, who drops each handful of berries into it, 

 until nearly full, when it is emptied into the large 

 sack, which meanwhile has been deposited on the 

 nearest road. The picker knows the exact quantity 

 he has gathered by the number of times he has 

 emptied the small bag. In the height of the crop 

 season, each coolie can gather a bushel and a half 

 of ripe berries twice a day ; a sack full being 

 brought in at an hour before noon, and again in 

 the evening. Men, women, and children are all 

 paid/r<? rata at this time, fourpence per bushel 

 being formerly the usual wage. It thus frequently 

 happens that, at this time of year, little boys and 

 weakly women can earn as much pay as strong, 

 robust men, and even more sometimes. However, 

 as all the earnings of the family usually go into the 

 common purse, there is not much grumbling in 

 consequence, as a rule. Still, there are at times 

 strong, willing men, good at hard field labour, &c., 



