

; W 



if i iil 



III 



24 



GATHERING THE FRUIT. 



We usually employ women, and large boys and girls — 

 the former, hovsun'er, preferred. Each takes a row, and 

 picks it clean before being allowed to take another. One 

 good, quick p{»rson takes charge of them, keeping each on 

 their row, and passing occasionally behind them to see if 

 thoy are picking them clean and properly. One person 

 takes charge of the boxes as they are brought in, watching 

 to see if stt^ms, green fruit and leaves are among the berries, 

 and if so, the picker is paid less for picking that case. 

 Another person has an alphabetical tally book, with the 

 names of all pickers alphabetically arranged, and as each 

 picker comes in, their names are called out by the receiver, 

 and repeated by the book-keeper, so that there will be no 

 mistake made. 



Another method is to have tickets to hand out to the 

 pickers each time they bring in a case of berries, those 

 tickets being presented on pay day. We usually pay from 

 one to two cents per quart for gathering, owing of course 

 to the picking. About one and a half cents for strawber- 

 ries, and two cents for raspberries and blackberries, is a 

 fair average price. 



I 



SHIPPING FRUIT THAT PERISHES QUICKLY. 



If trains that pass your station certain times in the day 

 reach the city after the early morning market hours are 

 over, it is better to keep the fruit standing in your cool 

 sheds until they can be shipped on a train that will go in 

 at the right time ; as the close, hot streets of the large cities 

 are bad places for fruit, as it spoils so quickly. It is better, 

 too, to ship fruit in baskets than in boxes, as they are not 

 so liable to heat and spoil. A quart basket with slat bot- 

 tom, for strawberries, and a pint basket of same kind for 

 raspberries and blackberries. The latter should always 

 be shipped to distant markets in pint baskets, for having 

 no stems or hulls, like strawberries, they press closer to- 

 gether, and are more likely to be heated or mouldy if in 

 a quart basket. Another object in shipping in baskets is, 

 that they have slanting sides and lit closely together only 

 at top, (we refer to square baskets, as our experience the 

 past season has demonstrated to us that we would not ship 

 in round boxes or baskets if given to us,) the air thus pass- 





