30 



BULLETIN 851, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



canvas picking bag is used. Picking ladders vary from. 20 to 30 

 feet in length. 



Day labor is figured at $2 per day, or 20 cents per hour. Contract 

 pickers, or those working at a stipulated rate per barrel, receive from 

 10 to 15 cents per barrel, depending upon the season and type of 

 ■worker. The usual price is 12^ cents per barrel -with board and 15 

 cents per barrel without board. 



When the crop is large, probably more apples are picked by the 

 barrel than by the day. In small-crop years the fruit is sparsely 

 distributed and the pickers do not care to work by the barrel, since 

 often it is hard to make a fair wage. 



Picking by the barrel also necessitates an extra handling of the 

 fruit, which many growers consider undesirable. However, man}' 

 men who have had the same pickers season after season find it is 

 an advantage to have their fruit picked by the barrel, for when the 

 crop is large considerable money may often be saved by getting 

 the fruit picked when in the proper condition and taken directly to 

 storage. 



Prior to 1917 many of the growers in western New York depended 

 upon transient labor for pickers. Where orchards were not far from 

 the larger cities help could be easily obtained. 



Of the growers here considered, 123, or 56 per cent, had their 

 apples picked by the day, while 86, or 40 per cent, had their apples 

 picked by the barrel. In getting estimates the grower was asked to 

 give the average number of barrels per day that the day or contract 

 picker would pick with a light crop and with a heavy crop, and an 

 average of these two estimates was taken for each record. The day 

 laborer picked on an average 20 loose barrels in 10 hours, while the 

 contract laborer picked on an average 25 loose barrels in 10 hours. 



Tablk XX. — Number of barrels picked in 10 hours and cost per acre and per 



graded barrel. 





Day pickers. 



Contract pickers. 



All picking. 





•3 



o 



n 



"3 



3 S 

 -c 

 -d-C 

 3>o 



03 



q 







ti 



a 

 S3 



Cost. 



•3 

 9 



65 



a 



Si 3 



d5 



03 



q 



3 

 



A 



a 



03 



Cost. 



•0 





 



a 



VI 



u > 



5 - 



c 

 — ft 

 So 



03 

 H 

 ao 



a 



\3 



H 



3 

 



a 



03 



Cost. 



Counties. 



a 

 

 a 

 u 

 3 



u 



c3 



u 





 Pn 



Q 

 03 



9 



Ph 



a 

 A 

 u 

 s> 



P-. 



03 

 U 



O 

 Pi 



"3 



H 



a 



u 









19 

 36 

 18 

 24 

 26 

 123 



20 

 20 



18 

 21 

 19 

 20 



50.49 

 68.20 

 55. 9S 

 45. 11 

 58.12 

 54.11 



$10. 10 

 11.61 

 11.20 

 9.02 

 11.62 

 10.82 



10. 1172 

 .1207 

 . 1 1 V.) 

 . 10.59 

 . 1388 

 . 12S2 



16 

 6 



29 

 26 

 9 

 86 



26 

 21 

 25 

 26 

 25 

 25 



40.42 

 42.67 

 42.96 

 41.69 

 36.67 

 41.39 



$15.11 

 13.11 

 15 46 

 15.61 

 13.41 

 15.06 



$0. 1910 

 .1760 

 .1712 

 .1768 



. 1795 

 .1774 



35 

 42 

 47 

 5') 

 35 

 a 209 



23 



20 

 22 

 25 

 20 

 22 



45.89 

 55.98 

 48.17 

 43.33 

 52.61 

 48.95 



$12.39 

 11.85 

 13.82 

 12.45 

 12.08 

 12.57 



$0.1688 

 .1270 

 .1620 

 .1434 

 .1484 

 .1486 







Orleans 



All counties. ... 



a Nine men in Wayno County shake their apples from the tree. 



