MARKETING AND DISTRIBUTION OF STRAWBERRIES. 6 
Under these conditions there is often a tendency on the part of the 
pickers to do unsatisfactory work. 
Various methods of handling pickers were observed during the 1915 
season, the most satisfactory of which included a "field "boss," who 
assigned each picker certain rows, and who continually supervised 
them to see that they harvested only berries of the proper degree of 
maturity, and that care was exercised hi handling both the berries 
and the vines. The grower was also represented at the packing shed 
by a " ticket giver," who passed upon the acceptability of the berries 
delivered, and who credited the picker for work done. The field 
inspection when efficient usually reduced the work at the receiving 
shed to a mere recording of the amounts delivered by each picker. 
Different growers have worked out various schemes for keeping 
their accounts with pickers . In some localities it -is the practice to 
give them small printed tickets indicating the number of quart or 
pint boxes delivered. These are afterwards exchanged for tickets 
representing a case each, which are redeemed hi cash once a week. 
In one district growers use small metallic checks furnished by store- 
keepers, who accept these checks in trade at any time, if so desired. 
These checks were also redeemable by the grower in cash each week. 
In one section the use of a punch ticket appears to combine the 
best qualities of the small tickets and checks, with the added advan- 
tage of establishing the ownership of the ticket in case it should be 
lost. This ticket is reproduced in figure 1. A promise to pay a 
bonus to the picker if he is always available for work during the 
entire season is printed on its face and tends to insure the grower a 
regular supply of help upon which he can depend. It is probable 
that a dependable supply of workers would be made more certain if. 
the grower were to guarantee the picker a minimum number of work- 
ing days within the limits of the normal harvesting season. 
COOPERATIVE ASSOCIATIONS. 
With the increasing necessity for more elaborate methods of dis- 
posal of the crop than those practiced by the small individual growers 
many cooperative marketing associations have come into existence. 
Practically every important producing section has one or more of 
these associations. In some areas — the Louisiana district and the 
southwest Missouri district, for instance — a number of different 
organizations have developed because of a divergence of interests, or 
on racial lines. 
