20 STRAWBERRY HAND-BOOK. 



will come to take an interest in the rows assigned to them 

 and will be apt to show care and thoroughness. The grower 

 should provide each picker with a light picking tray in 

 which the quart baskets can be placed as fast as filled. It 

 is well to have a covering for the tray to keep off the sun 

 and rain. 



If there is no house near the field, a rough shed should 

 be erected to shade the berries when they are picked. A 

 good method of keeping count of the picking is to issue to 

 the pickers basket checks. Let each picker have so many 

 checks, and then give up a check for every basket of fruit 

 brought to the store shed, where the account can be checked 

 by the field boss. The price which the grower gets, depends 

 in a large measure on the berries being picked at just the 

 right stage of ripeness, and in their being carefully handled 

 and packed. Berries should be picked by the stem, which 

 should be pinched off about one inch long. The berries 

 should never be taken in the hand. 



Grade the fruit honestly all through, but dress off the 

 baskets neatly, slightly heaped in the middle of the basket, 

 turning the reddest side of the berry up. Always pack 

 the berries as ripe as you find they will carry to market 

 well. Refrigerator cars make it possible to pick berries 

 much riper than some years back when only ordinary cars 

 were used. Use only new fresh crates and baskets, which 

 can be bought cheap in large quantities. Consult your 

 commission merchant as to the size of the crates to be 

 used ; different markets require different sized crates. 



