Getting along with Help 115 



labor and therefore to a higher wage. Being a 

 regular and acknowledged form of agriculture, it 

 gives regular employment, but while, in the aggre- 

 gate, continuously, few of the laborers are required 

 all the year round. It is labor of its kind in season. 

 In spring, the cultivation begins in April and runs, 

 ,say, till mid-August. In late June, in July, 

 August, September, October, November, there 

 is fruit to pick, pack, and market. In winter, that 

 is between harvest and spring, there is the trim- 

 iming of vineyards and orchards, cutting out old 

 berry brush, and tying grapes; also the applica- 

 tion of some commercial fertilizers to the land. But 

 much of the work on the fruit-farm concentrates 

 within well-defined limits of plant growth, fruit 

 growth, and harvest, adding the pruning season 

 which varies somewhat according to the pressure 

 of work on the farm. The work is of different 

 kinds. Only an expert can trim orchard or vine- 

 yard, but children can pick berries, and any person 

 of ordinary skill can pick grapes, plums, cherries, 

 peaches, prunes, and apples. Horticultural work 

 [therefore demands a relay of labor, but not con- 

 Itinuously; consequently the laborer must do much 

 within a brief working period. This means piece 

 work and relatively high wages, or no one will 

 find such work desirable. To the owner of the 

 fruit-farm all work is desirable, because if success- 

 ful it is profitable. 



The labor question is largely one of locality. 

 A fruit-farm near a populous center can always 



