Methods of Culture in the South. 



127 



ground before one of these men, in the performance of his duty, shouted 



in a stentorian voice : 



" Heah, you ! Git up, dar, you long man, off'n yer knees. What yo' 



mashin' down a half-acre o' berries fer ? " 



Mr. Sheppard was quick to see a good subject, and almost in a flash 



he had the man posed and motionless in his attitude of authority, and 



under his rapid strokes Jackson won fame 

 and eminence, going to his work a little later 

 the hero of the field. The overseer's task is 

 a difficult one, for the pickers least given to 

 prayer are oftenest on their knees, crushing 



-.- 



Git up, dar, you long man, 

 off'n yer knees." 



strawberries, and, whether they 

 are " long " or short, much fruit is 

 destroyed. North or South, the effort to keep 



those we employ off the berries must be constant, 

 especially as a long, hot day is waning. Indeed, 



one can scarcely blame them for " lopping down." for it would be inquis- 

 itorial torture to most of us to stoop upon our feet through a summer 

 day. Picking strawberries, as a steady business, is wofully prosaic. 



While the sun had been shining so brightly, there had been an occa- 

 sional heavy jar and rumble of thunder, and now the western sky was 

 black. Gradually the pickers had disappeared from the Wilson field, and 

 we at last followed them, warned by an occasional drop of rain to seek the 

 vicinity of the house. Having reached the grassy slope, beneath the 

 pines in the rear of the dwelling, we turned to note the pretty scene. 

 A branch of Tanner's Creek came up almost to our feet, and on either 

 side of it stretched away long rows of strawberries as far as the eye could 

 reach. Toward these the throng of pickers now drifted, " seeking fresh 

 fields and pastures new." The motley crowd was streaming down on either 

 side of the creek, while across a little causeway came a counter current, the 

 majority of them having trays full of berries. The buyers, like the traders 



