222 



Roquevaire Caper Industry. 



This bud is picked when very small, as its quality deteriorates 

 as it grows larger. The labour of picking the buds devolves 

 upon the members of the association. It is usually done by 

 women at intervals of five or six days during the season, 

 which lasts from the end of May till the beginning of 

 September. When gathered the capers are put into wine 

 vinegar (provided by the syndicate at cost price] so as 

 to be only just covered, and steeped for two or three 

 months, after which they are delivered to the association, by 

 whom they are sifted and then replaced in vinegar in the 

 society's cellars, being kept in barrels until sold. The pro- 

 ducer is credited with the weight of the capers furnished by 

 him, and the quality of the buds as determined by the sifting 

 (at which he can be present if he chooses) is also noted. 

 Some twenty women are usually employed at the associa- 

 tion s headquarters for about six months in sifting, which 

 operation is performed by hand with the aid of a metal sieve. 



The capers are classified in six qualities, the finest being 

 worth, in 1894, about £4 per cwt., and the inferior sort about 

 I os. The net produce of the sales, after deducting the general 

 expenses of the syndicate, is divided among the members 

 proportionally to the amount and quality of their deliveries. 

 Thus the money received from the sale of first quality capers 

 is divided solely among those who have delivered capers of 

 that grade, and the members have accordingly an interest in 

 increasing the quality of the produce. 



The capers may be kept a year or more in the cellars. On 

 being sent away they undergo a double straining, and as 

 they have absorbed some 10 per cent, of their weight of 

 vinegar, they keep very well without any further addition in 

 a hermetically sealed barrel. 



The principal outlets for these capers are Russia, Germany, 

 Sweden, England, and America. Apart from the assistance 

 given by the consuls in those countries, the sydicate has also 

 agents abroad, who are paid by a commission on the sales. 



As many cultivators would not be in a position to wait 

 for their returns until the sale of the goods, the syndicate 

 advances money at 4 per cent, to such of its members as 

 require it, to an amount not exceeding three-fourths of the 



