LOGANBERRY CULTURE IN 
similar once each week, followed each 
time with a clod masher to keep a dust 
mulch on the surface. They should be 
worked up till about the middle of July 
and the last time should be gone 
through with a disc harrow to throw 
the dirt up to the rows and between 
the hills so as to keep them from drying 
out. 
Picking 
Picking season will start in about the 
20th of June, but it is sometimes a week 
or ten days earlier or as much later. 
It will last about six weeks. If the ber- 
ries are to be shipped to the market 
fresh they will have to be picked very 
firm, but if they are to be evaporated 
they must be left on the vines until 
fully ripe as they will dry heavier and 
make a better fruit if fully ripe. 
It requires about five good pickers 
for each acre. Everything should be 
in readiness before picking starts, 
plenty of wood and water for the pick- 
ers, carrier for picking into, etc. A 
good yard boss is also very important. 
One who knows just how the berries 
should be picked and can get along with 
the pickers is the kind to have. He 
must be able to get through the yard 
several times a day. The rows should 
all be numbered so the yard boss can 
keep a book of just which row each 
picker is on and know who is respon- 
sible if any berries are skipped. If 
they are to be shipped to the cannery 
or to the market fresh, a good packing 
shed should be provided in the center 
of the yard so as to make it convenient 
for the pickers to bring in the berries. 
The cost of picking is about $20 per 
ton of fresh fruit. Pickers are paid 5-6 
of a cent per box for the first two weeks 
of picking, 1 cent per box for the next 
two weeks and 114 cents for the bal- 
ance of the season. As the berries are 
a little thinner at the last of the sea- 
son than at the beginning this makes 
an average price of about 1 cent per 
box. This method of paying gives the 
pickers who stay through the season 
as good pay as though they received a 
cent a box straight through, but those 
THE WILLAMETTE VALLEY 1247 
who quit after picking a few days get 
less pay for what they have done and 
any that have to be engaged later in 
the season get more pay as the berries 
get thinner on the vines. Each picker 
is numbered and has a ticket with a 
place for the picker’s number at the 
top and figures running from one to 
12 down through the center with the 
grower at the bottom. The check men 
punch out the number of boxes picked, 
giving a new check with only one hole 
punched each time. Three colors are used, 
one for each price paid for picking. 
Each color is also marked whether 5-6 
of a cent, or 1 cent or 1% cents per 
box. The check man puts the picker’s 
number on each ticket with an indelible 
pencil. We also number the carriers, 
so we can at any time check against the 
picker by keeping tab every few days 
when dirty berries are found. 
Pick in the common hallock, either 
Square or good tin tops, and use car- 
riers to hold 12 of them. The carriers 
should be as light as possible and have 
tight bottoms. Use %-inch stuff for the 
ends and 14-inch for the sides and bot- 
toms. If they are built with the end 
pieces 5 inches high and the handles 
about 914 inches high they will easily 
stack up as well as when crated, which 
is very important when they must be 
piled on the platform of the dryer so as 
to have enough to run through the night. 
When evaporating the berries there 
should be at least four carriers for each 
picker, but when they are to be packed 
and shipped fresh two will do, as they 
are emptied much faster and none have 
to be left for storing the berries for night 
work. We use two-wheeled spring carts 
with a bed large enough to pile 12 car- 
riers on the bed and aS many can be 
piled on top as can be handled. The 
check men take this cart up the road 
through the center of the yard and load 
on the berries as fast as brought to the 
ends of the rows, giving checks for them; 
when loaded they return to the evapora- 
tor or packing shed and unload, loading 
up with empties while the other one is 
being loaded. This keeps the pickers 
in the yard out of the way, and two men 
