PREPARATION FOE GATHERING FRUIT. 277 



the flap to the ends. They are made with the sides, top, 

 and bottom, all in one piece, as shown in figure 124, or 

 with these in two pieces, so that it is reversible and may 

 be opened at either top or bottom. 



New styles of baskets are being brought out every sea- 

 son, but they can scarcely be called improvements upon 

 the old ones. 



GATHERING FRUIT. 



In sections where the small fruits are grown extensive- 

 ly, women and children are chiefly employed to gather 

 them, being paid so much per basket. 



The small Jersey Strawberries are generally pulled, as 

 it is called, or separated from the calyx, or hull, when 

 picked; with the larger kinds it is left on. The price 

 paid for picking varies from seventy-five cents to one dol- 

 lar twenty-five cents per hundred for the small baskets, 

 and three to five cents per quart for the larger Strawber- 

 ries, Easpberries, and Blackberries. At these prices, an 

 expert hand will make two to three dollars per day where 

 the fruit is abundant. 



The fruit should always be gathered in dry weather, 

 and none should be picked in the morning while the dew 

 is on. 



The usual method practised in the larger plantations 

 is something like the following : 



A tent or temporary shed is erected in or near the field 

 in which the fruit is grown, and the superintendent re- 

 mains in this and takes charge of the fruit as it is brought 

 in, giving each picker a ticket, stating the number of 

 baskets brought in. When one or two hundred baskets are 

 gathered, then the small tickets are taken up and a large 

 one given, on which is printed good for one, two, or more 

 dollars, as the case may be. These tickets are redeemed at 

 the end of the week, provided the holder retains them 

 until that timo; but with some a week is a very long 



