THE RUSHIRE FRUIT FARM, IONIA, MICH. 
17 
Plants Are Dead. 
Cultivate at once using a two inch tooth and 
then let the Planet Jr. harrow go through the 
row fining the earth around the plants not too 
deep. In a week or so you will notice the 
green leaves beginning to peep out and a few 
weeks they will outshine any plant not so 
treated. I leave some pieces not mulched to 
get berries earlier. I mow as above and add 
enough straw after picking to make it burn. I 
harbor no insects, rust, or fungi. That is one 
of the secrets of my success. I never have any 
sickly plants. Every one must be strictly 
engaged in producing 
Big Berries and Lots of Them 
or out they come. 
Keeping' Tally. 
We formerly used tickets similar to those 
used by milkmen, naving them of the denom- 
inations of one and four quarts, with 24 and 
50 quart tickets to exchange for smaller ones, 
so they would not get too cumbersome to the 
pickers. They were frequently lost and the 
superintendent sometimes dropped them which 
caused much trouble and dissatisfaction. We 
now use a check slip of hea"y manilla paper or 
shipping tags can be had very cheaply, giving 
each picker one each day with date put on 
back with rubber stamp. They are made " not 
transferable " and if lost cannot be collected if 
presented by any one else. The name of each 
picker is written at the top. A hole is made in 
the corner so it can be attached to the button 
hole with string and when their picking stand 
is full they go to the packing shed and have 
the number of quarts punched out by the shed 
tender with a conductor's punch. When the 
tickets are presented for payment you can 
readily tell how many quarts were picked each 
day and if the full amount of fruit was 
delivered. 
The following is the form of the tally card 
we now use. To prevent mistakes the lines 
for the four quart column are made much 
heavier than those of the one quart column. 
It should not be over one and a quarter inches 
wide and five inches long, with spaces for about 
one hundred and fifty tjuarts. 
RUSHIRE 
FRUIT FARM. 
picker's card. 
(Not Transferable.) 
For _ 
£11 
CO 
If you want to tell if there are leaves in the 
bottom of the box you can do so without 
emptying out the berries by running a timothy 
straw down to the bottom. 
Picking Stands. 
Berries are always jammed and bruised 
where pickers are allowed to set them down in 
the rows and permitted to carry a number at 
once to the packing shed. Take common lath 
and cut long enough to make a band in which 
four boxes can be placed. Nail them together 
as firmly as possible and out of some old crate 
covers make the bottom which is closely tacked 
on. Some hoop stuff from the cooper shop or 
basket factory makes the handles. They will 
soon pay for themselves by preventing the 
breaking of boxes. We use these in picking all 
kinds of berries. We have tried all sorts of 
wire boxes attached to the person for picking 
raspberries and blackberries but they were not 
satisfactory. Four boxes is as much as the 
average picker will handle at once. 
Paying Piokees. 
We pay weekly and have a uniform price. 
One and a quarter cents per quart for short 
term pickers for strawberries and one and three- 
fourths for raspberries and for those who pick 
