REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE FRUIT INDUSTRY. 547 



have the power to build cottages, with the assent of the County Council, 

 under the provisions of the Housing of the "Working Classes Act, 1890 ; 

 but they believe that the time allowed for the repayment of loans was, 

 until recently, so short as to render the rent which had to be paid pro- 

 hibitive to working men. By the provisions of the Housing of the Working 

 Classes Act, 1908, this term has been extended from 60 to 80 years, and 

 the Committee believe that the Acts may now be put in force by District 

 Councils with advantage to country districts. 



77. With regard to the alleged difficulty of obtaining pickers, we 

 notice, again, that there are practically no complaints from the larger 

 districts. Indeed, where fruit growing is general very elaborate arrange- 

 ments are made for the importation and housing of pickers from the 

 great towns and populous districts in the neighbourhood. In Kent, the 

 pickers come largely from the East End of London ; in Worcestershire, 

 from the Black Country ; in the Holt district of Denbighshire, from the 

 Lancashire towns. Mr. Sheppard, in his evidence, described the buildings 

 specially erected by Messrs. Bellis Bros., the largest growers in the Holt 

 district, for the housing of the pickers there, and the very careful sanitary 

 and other regulations enforced during their stay. Similar arrangements 

 are made by growers elsewhere ; and Mr. Hodge mentioned an experiment, 

 which he had recently made in the Blairgowrie district, of obtaining the 

 services of large numbers of respectable girls from shops and factories in 

 Glasgow, through the medium of the Scottish Women's Trades Council, 

 and stated that it had proved a great success. Such arrangements are in 

 every way beneficial, securing to the grower an adequate supply of cheap 

 labour, and providing a most healthy and invigorating change into the 

 country for a considerable portion of the dwellers in our great cities. But 

 in districts where fruit growing is less organised, or which are far from 

 industrial centres, the difficulty of obtaining pickers is a real one. Mr. 

 King stated that he could double his business if only he could obtain 

 pickers, and that he had planted a large amount of Strawberries, but had 

 to plough the land up again because of the impossibility of picking them. 

 Similar complaints were made by Mr. Trevethan, a Devonshire grower, 

 and by Mr. Sinclair, who represented the East Lothian district. The 

 remedy which naturally suggests itself in such cases is, that growers 

 should co-operate to obtain labour from outside. Several of the witnesses, 

 however, were of opinion that a great deal more might be done by children 

 in elementary schools, if only the school authorities would give more help ; 

 and Mr. Hodge suggested that boys should be allowed to be sent from 

 industrial schools, and to remain for the fruit harvest. Apparently, at the 

 present time they cannot remain away from school more than two nights 

 without the consent of the Home Office. This would appear to be a very 

 reasonable proposal, subject to proper conditions. With regard to the 

 elementary schools, it was complained that the school authorities were un- 

 willing in some places to arrange the holidays so as to free the children 

 during the picking season ; but it should be remembered that the fruit- 

 picking season is a long one, lasting from the middle of June to the 

 middle of September, and it would be impossible to arrange for the 

 holidays to last all this period. It should further be noted that, according 

 to the provisions of the Robson Act (or, in Scotland, the Pirie Act), to 



