144 



GARDEN FARMING 



restricted to localities in which an abundant labor supply, which can 

 be commanded at any time, is available (notice the extent of the 

 area shown in figure 47 and the number of laborers in figure 51). 

 The market gardener dependent upon a limited labor supply, in 

 a region where wages are high, cannot afford to cultivate extensive 

 areas of string beans. The trucking district along the Atlantic 

 coast from Georgia to Washington, D.C., has the advantage of 

 negro labor, which for many years has been trained to this kind 

 of work. While negro laborers are not highly efficient, their large 



FIG. 51. A Southern bean field pickers at work 



numbers make possible the harvesting of the string-bean crop at 

 moderate cost, and this means that extensive areas of string beans 

 can be grown at a satisfactory profit to the planter. It is customary 

 to harvest string beans on a piece-work basis by measure, most 

 growers using a bushel basket as the unit of payment. 



After the beans are picked they are carried to a convenient sort- 

 ing table, either in the open or under shelter, where they are looked 

 over and the diseased and broken beans rejected. The baskets are 

 filled uniformly and shaken down preparatory to covering them for 

 shipment. The method of assorting beans is shown in figure 52. 

 As is suggested by this illustration, string beans are usually shipped 



