370 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST, 



Fig. 2388. Gathering Peaches in. Hale Orchards. 



throug-h the consuming- territory at the 

 north ; commission men and leading- retail- 

 ers are told fully and freely of the crop pros- 

 pects, visits are made to the general freight 

 agents and officers of the leading railroads, 

 and a personal interest awakened that is 

 beneficial to all concerned. 



As soon as the peaches begin to ripen, 

 the most experienced are placed in charge o* 

 gangs of ten and fifteen, which are later in. 

 creased to forty or fifty. Every picker has 

 his number stencilled on a little canvas sack, 

 in which are tickets of corresponding^ num- 

 ber, one of which is dropped in the bottom 

 of each basket. AH pickers are taught to 

 recognize a matured peach at sight, and 

 they are only touched by hand when ready 

 to be picked. 



Careful inspection of the fruit in each 

 basket as the harvest proceeds tones up the 

 quality of the pickers' work. Wagons with 

 hundreds of extra baskets are always on 

 hand, including two or more boys with each 

 gang to "tote" baskets, so the harvesters 



may lose no time looking for ''empties." 

 Low-down spring wagons, drawn by small 

 mules, creep in and out among the trees and 

 haul the fruit to the main avenues, where 

 the baskets are loaded on large floats on 

 their way to the great central packing house. 



White labor is used entirely in the pack- 

 ing house, and at two long tables running 

 the full length of the great building stand 

 the men and women, who, under careful in- 

 struction, take the fruit from the field bask- 

 ets and assort it into three sizes, placing it 

 in canvas trays in front of them. All inferior 

 or over-ripe specimens are set aside for the 

 evaporator. If any baskets show a lack of 

 skill or care in picking the ticket in the 

 bottom tells where to look for the trouble. 

 Notice is given to the inspector, and from 

 him to the field foreman, who gallops away 

 on horseback to brace up the weak brother. 

 The sorters save all the tickets found in the 

 bottom of the baskets, and each is given due 

 credit for tickets turned in. 



On the opposite side of the sorting table 



