278 



SMALL FRUIT CULTURIST. 



time to keep a promise to pay, and they sell them. In 

 some portions of New Jersey, and perhaps elsewhere, 

 these tickets pass current at the stores in the vicinity, 

 and the merchants take them in exchange for goods, 

 and when the season is oyer, j)resent them to the proper 

 persons for redemption. 



At the time of gathering, each picker is furnished 

 "with a stand (figure 125), holding ten to twenty-five 



baskets. When 



put into crates holding from one hundred and fifty to 

 two hundred each, but when pint and quart baskets are 

 used, from thirty to sixty go in a crate. 



The pickers have to conform to certain rules promul- 

 gated by the nabob of the tent, for there must be disci- 

 pline and system observed in fruit gathering, as in every 

 other business, to produce the best result. N"o picker 

 must be allowed to encroach upon his neighbor, and when 

 a row or bed is selected at the start, it must be retained 

 until all the fruit for that time is gathered. The next 

 bed or rov/ must be taken by lot — and no dodging because 

 it happens to be a poor one. 



The time of the vintage is one of rejoicing in the vine 

 countries of Europe, and equally so is the time of gather- 

 ing the small fruits in America. Good feelings prevail 

 on all sides, and particularly if the crop is abundant, for 

 both employer and the employed are abundantly rewarded 

 for their labor. 



all are filled, they 

 are carried to the 

 tent and put into 

 the crates, ready 

 for sending to 

 market. The small 

 Jersey baskets are 



¥ig. 125.— BASKET STAND. 



