PICKING 31 



end of the day, as before. The cards can then be kept 

 by the pickers as vouchers on their part, to guard 

 against errors on the books.* 



One of the greatest difficulties in managing a 

 crowd of pickers is to get the fruit picked clean, and 

 it is an absolute necessity to have a rigid system of 

 assignment to rows, with a careful foreman almost 

 constantly in the field to go over the work frequently 

 and see that it is well done. The shiftless picker 

 must be made to go over the row again. From a 

 limited experience in managing a crowd of city ur- 

 chins in experimental gardens, where an assignment 

 of rows was impracticable, I can speak with full assur- 

 ance concerning the importance of this precaution. 



Another precaution nearly always necessary is to 

 reserve a portion of the price per quart, usually half 

 a cent, until the close of the season, with the under- 

 standing that only those who work through to the end 

 shall receive the full amount. If this is not done, the 

 amount of "headache" and the number of other ex- 

 cuses which will develop w411 be something astonish- 

 ing, and the outcome will be that a few conscientious 

 pickers will^ be left to finish up the poorer picking, 

 with inconvenience to the grower and injustice to 

 them. Some overcome the difficulty to a certain ex- 

 tent by varying the price with the condition of the 

 picking, but this plan must lead to more or less 

 confusion. 



*Consult Chapter viii., "Principles of Fruit-Growing," for further discussion 

 of these questions. 



