I' A C I 1' I C T 



]•: A N I) \' I \ K 



The Orchardist and Labor 



The committee of fifteen appoint- 

 ed at the late Fruit Growers' Con- 

 VL-ntioii to solve the labor problem 

 in this State is very proh,bK- np 

 against a hard proposition. They 

 are working with laudable energy, 

 and have sent lecturers — jiractical 

 farmers-- into the Eastern .States, 

 where the advantages of farm life 

 in California will be .set forth to 

 practical men and illustrated with 

 magic lantern views, while a fund 

 of information and statistics will be 

 available for all inquirers. It is 

 quite prol)able that by these means 

 many will be induced to come to 

 California. These will be largely 

 of the more enterprising and roving 

 class, who are ambitious to improve 

 their conditions in life and who 

 will become competitors instead of 

 assistants to our fruit farmers at the 

 earliest possible date. The ordi- 

 nary farm laborer, the i-ne who is 

 content with his conditions in life 

 and satisfied to remain a farm lab- 

 orer, which is the kinfl we need, is 

 not the kind of man to change his 

 position unless driven to it by hun- 

 ger, and he stands in no danger 

 from this at the present time. All 

 through the Eastern States there is 

 as active a dema id for faim help as 

 there is in California, as is evident 

 from the following extract from the 

 Orange Judd Farmer of a recent 



date : 



"The demand for help, both on 



farms and in farmhouses, is going 

 to be more insatiable than ever this 

 spring. We have taken up this 

 matter with the officials of the fed- 

 eral government in ihe hope that 

 something could be done to supply 

 this demand by immigrants who 

 arrive on our shores from European 

 countries. A free market tor im- 

 migrant labor is maintained by the 

 labor bureau at Castle Garden, 

 whose address is United States 

 Barge Office, Battery Park, New 

 York City, but the supei inlendent, 

 Mr. Maera, writes us that the de- 

 maud for this class of help is far in 

 excess of the supply, and that the 



wage rate ranges from $15 to $20 

 per month and board. The labor 

 bureau referred to charges no fee 

 whatever to employer or immi- 

 grant. It seems that arriving im- 

 migrants are generally taken care 

 of by their city friends or engaged 

 as soon as the\ get through the 

 barge office. The .scarcity of any 

 kind of help, even at the [jresent 

 high rate of wages, is working 

 great hardship, especially to farm- 

 ers It renders all the more trying 

 the problem of dealing with the 

 great body of tramps who won't 

 work at all. The situation on the 

 Pacific Coast is e\ en more desper- 

 ate than in the middle and western 

 states, and there are not a few vvlu) 

 maintain that the Chinese exclusion 

 act is an error under present condi- 

 tions We hardly ap|)rove of this 

 latter idea, liowever." 



In view of this condition of af- 

 fairs in the field they are working 

 over, it is hardiv probable that our 

 labor committee will succeed in in- 

 ducing very many of the class we 

 need to emigrate to California, and 

 our farmers and fruit growers will 

 have to put up with a shortage of 

 labor for another year, and depend 

 largely upon the undesirable Chin 

 ese and Japanese laborers to help 

 them out. 



Of Interest to Fruit Growers 



A new collapsible fruit carrier is 

 the invention of W. H. Ferguson 

 of the Home Union, Sau Jose. It 

 is made of a single sheet of card 

 board, will ship perfectly flat, can 

 be readily set up by the grower or 

 packer, holding half or a dozen 

 each of rjpe apricots, peaches, or 

 other fruits. Will i)ack in the reg- 

 ular fiuit case, having tapering 

 sides, the fruit adjusts itself in the 

 cell, and cannot move around or 

 come in contact with the sides of 

 the shipping case. .\ cleat nailed 

 inside, at either end of case, for the 

 carriers to rest upon, protects the 

 bottom. Similar cleats protect the 



top, making practically a suspended 

 carrier, well ventilated, for trans- 

 porting ripe fruit to Eastern and 

 Ii)uropean markets without the pos- 

 sib lity of bru sing and in first class 

 condition. Fruit can be delivered 

 direct to the consumer in these car- 

 riers without touching the fruit to 

 remove the bloom or bruise the ripe 

 fruit, as is necessary in all other 

 double-cell carriers now on the 

 msrket The trifling cost of the 

 new carrier in comparison to others 

 together with the many other good 

 features, ought to insure speedy 

 adoption of the 1903 patent fruit 

 carrier. 



Information as to how seedless 

 melons are grown, can he obtained 

 from M. G. Bailey, San Jose, Cal. 

 See ad in this issue. 



PIERCE CUSHION POAME CHAINLES9 



Pierce Bicycles 



J. A. DESIMONE 



Xo. S7 East San Fernando Street 



San Josk, Cai.. 



If you want the Best 



Wagon 

 Buggy 

 Cart 

 Q^\ Surry or 

 Harness 





Studebaker 



We liandle a full line. We also liave 

 a complete line of all kinds of Agricul- 

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 before buying. 



BOW.MAN & FOSDICK 



81-89 South Market St., San Jose 



