A B C OF STRAWBERRY CULTURE. 221 



a tray on their heads, and offer their filled quart boxes and get 

 their tickets. Some of them did not have very elaborate cloth' 

 ing, but they always arranged to have a pocket that would car" 

 ry their tickets safely. A smart colored man received the box- 

 es on a sort of counter, letting the picker take his tray back to 

 the field. The proprietor's son was stationed near by with 

 tickets of different values stowed in handy pockets ; and he al- 

 ways had the proper ticket or tickets to hand out just as soon 

 as the picker was ready to go back. 



We happened to be there just as the dinner-bell sounded, 

 and it was a treat to me to see that motley crowd come in. God 

 knows I am interested in human beings as well as in strawber- 

 ries ; and I was greatly pleased to see the pleasant feeling that 

 seemed to exist between employer and employee. Friend Trot- 

 man pays two cents a quart right through for picking the ber- 

 ries. He said it was a little more than some others paid, but 

 he liked to have his workmen satisfied. I asked him where he 

 found his most expert pickers among the men, women, or 

 children. He said a colored widow woman and her two little 

 bits of children (it might have been three) were about the best 

 pickers he had in his employ. He said he had recently paid 

 her $23 in cash for one week's work for herself and children. 

 Some of those little colored boys and girls were remarkably 

 quick and handy at the business. You see it is not so much 

 work for them to double up and stoop over as it is for older peo- 

 ple. In the rush at noon time it was almost impossible to pre- 

 vent some confusion and disorder. I was pleased to see Mr 

 Trotman gently reprove a colored man for tramping on a good 

 new berry-box. Somebody tipped them over, and in the hurry 

 to get ready for dinner they were not picked up. The man put 

 his foot on a nice clean box. Now, the value of these boxes is 

 not much over a quarter of a cent each ; but letting the people 

 trample the boxes under foot, even if they represent only a 

 small value, establishes a bad precedent. 



A STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL NEAR XENIA, GREENE CO., OHIO. 



From Gleanings in Bee Culture July 75, 1899. 



The gathering of bee-keepers and strawberry -growers was 

 in a grove surrounding a schoolhouse. The friends of the year 



