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select his pickers and have .them subscribe to a few plain rules 

 like the following. 



1. The berries must be picked with the thumb ;ind fore finger 

 nails and not held in the hand but dropped into the baskets at 

 once. 



2. No green, decayed or muddy berries will be received. 



3. There must be no getting down upon all fours in the 

 beds, thus crushing both green and ripe fruit. 



4. There must be no " topping off" with large berries, and the 

 fruit must be equally good all through the basket. 



In the early pickings of Wilsons when many of the berries 

 are of good size, and of all the large, choice kinds, it is best to 

 make two grades, putting the large and small by themselves, 

 and keeping varieties separate. A small frame with short legs 

 at each corner and a handle is a convenient ar)pliance to hold six 

 or more baskets while picking. Give to each picker two sets of 

 baskets, one for the small, and one for the large berries, and pay 

 equally for both so that there may be no motive to thwart your 

 purpose ; two cents per quart is the usual price. Have two styles 

 of tickets, red and blue, for instance, the red having a higher 

 value and given to those who bring the berries to the place of pack- 

 ing in good order, according to rule ; let the baskets not picked 

 in conformity to the rules be receipted for with the blue tickets. 

 Receiving man}' of the latter soon becomes a kind of disgrace, and 

 thus you appeal to the principle of self-respect as well as self- 

 interest. Get rid of those who persist in careless picking as soon 

 as possible. Insist that the baskets be full and rounded up, and 

 the fruit equal in quality down to the bottom. As far as possible 

 let the hulls be down, out of sight, and only the fruit showing. 

 If you have berries that are extra fine it will pay you to pick 

 and pack them yourself, or have some one do it that can be 

 depended upon. Do not pick the fruit, if you can help it, when it 

 is wet with dew or rain ; still there are times when this must be 

 done to save it. Never let the baskets or crates stand long 

 m the sun and wind, as the berries so treated soon become dull 



