30 



BULLETIN 851, TJ. 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 12J 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, many 

 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 10 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. 



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



graded barrel. 





Day pickers. 



Contract pickers. 



All picking. 







B 





Cost. 





'* 





Cost. 









Cost. 



Counties. 





b o5 



5 ~ 











3 S 











3 ti 











-a 



-~ c 

 5T 



3 



o 



6 



3 



to 



•a 



_~ o 

 |5 



M 

 O 



c5 

 o 



"3 



■a 



o 

 ,2 — 



3 



c 



6 



"3 



3 





o 

 o 



to 





(h 



Pn 



o 



SO 



03 





X2 



o 



o 

 o 

 PS 



5? 



3 



c3 



CO 



o 





19 



90 



50.49 



S10. 10 



SO. 1472 

 .1207 



16 



26 



40 42 



$15. 11 

 13 11 



SO. 1910 

 1760 



35 

 42 



23 



20 

 22 



45.89 

 55.98 

 48 17 



S12. 39 

 11.85 

 13.82 

 12.45 

 12.08 



SO. 1688 

 .1270 

 .1620 

 .1434 

 . 1484 



Ontario 



36 



?n 



68.20 



11.64 





21 



42.67 



Monroe 



18 



18 



55.98 



11.20 



.1449 



oq 



25 



42.96 



15 46 



1712 



47 



Orleans 



?4 



?l 



45. 11 



9.02 



. 1059 



?fi 



26 



41 69 



15 61 



.1768 

 .1795 



59 

 35 



25 

 20 



43.33 

 52.61 



Niagara 



26 



19 



58.12 



11.62 



.1388 



9 



25 



36.67 



13.41 



AH counties. ... 



123 



20 



54.11 



10.82 



.1282 



86 25 



41.39 



15.06 



.1774 



a 209 



22 



48.95 



12.57 



.1486 



Nine men in Wayne County shake their apples from the tree. 



