DEWBERRY GROWING 
7 
The pickers must at least wear a glove on the hand used to lift the 
vines and most of them wear a glove with the tips of the fingers removed 
on the pick’ng hand. Some growers supply the pickers with a twelve- 
basket carrier, or two if the p’ckcrs are fast and able to carry them. Othe s 
advocate the use of the regular shipping crate ho’ding twenty-four baskets. 
A bale may be made of heavy wire bent in a way to clamp into the grooves 
that serve as handles in the end of the crate. Of course crates used to 
pick in cannot afterwards be used as shipping crates. The deck boards 
and baskets for the second tier are carried along and placed in position 
when the first tier is filled. In this way the picker carries a full crate in 
one hand and at the same time does not expose them to the sun for any 
length of time. A piece of heavy cloth large enough to cover half the crate 
may be tacked by two corners across the center of the crate and used to 
shade one end of the crate whi’e the other is being filled. The pickers 
should he made to grade the fruit, and the best way is to have them put 
the culls in certain boxes and pay them for picking these the same as fi - st- 
class fruit. This plan provides a place for fruit the picker gathers and hates 
to throw away because it fills up. Dewberries should be picked when a full 
glossy black. Berries which have gone beyond this stage and turned a 
did’ or more ashy color are too ripe to ship. The cull box is the place for 
over-rine. d y, and poorly colored berries. Ripe berries start mould if 
packed fo- slvpment. 
Dewberries should not be picked when moist, as after a heavy dew or 
rain. Pickers are paid by the crate, thirty cents, if they pick part of the 
season, and thirty-five cents if they finish the season. Tf the grower does 
not protect himself in this way, some of the pickers will leave him when 
pick'ng gets poor. 
Packing. Since dewberries were first grown in Colorado several styles 
of packages have been used, but the crate known as the Doube-deck Rasp¬ 
berry C 'ate and now commonly used comes as near perfect'd! as any. This 
crate holds twenty-four pint veneer boxes, twe’ve in each deck. When the 
bottom tier of boxes is in place a second bottom similar to the first is 
dropped in—the ends of the crate being supplied with grooves to support it 
—and the second tier rests upon this. The crate is arranged in a way to 
give perfect ventilators, and good ventilation is essential in shipping dew- 
be-ries. The general practice is for the pickers to sort the berries and then 
all the packer has to do is to see that the boxes are full and not overfull, 
and possib’y th"ow out a few defective berries overlooked by careless pick¬ 
ers. When packed and covered the crates should he racked up end to end, 
preferably under an open shed, and allowed to thoroughly ai- out before 
shipping. If possible, it is a good plan to let them a’r over night and ship 
in the morning; unless well aired out the fnrt molds in transit. Shippers 
should also insist on the car being we’l ventilated; icing only seems to 
aggravate molding. 
As : n the packing and grading of any fruit, the berry grower has an 
opportunity to establish a reputation for his product. So long as the num¬ 
ber of dewberry growers is bruited and the matter of grading and packing 
is not an associat-’on problem, the individual grower should put up a pack 
that he is not ashmed of and stamp his name and address upon the cate. 
Mr. Jas. P Baldridge, the veteran dewberry grower of the Plateau Valley, 
and to whom I am indebted for much valued information and hc'p in the 
preparation of ihN bulletin, has adopted this plan and is known the state 
ove- fo- lvs dewberries. He could dispose of the enthe output of his five- 
ace patch through ma : l and telephone orders but prefers to let a Producers’ 
Association handle the bulk of the crop Such a plan relieves the grower 
of much responsibil'ty and associations are better collectors than individ¬ 
uals. The man who receives the fruit from the pickers and crates it for 
shipment should always be on the lookout for poorly colored, defective, or 
over-r pe ber-’es. Pickers often pick small, dry be ries and these should 
not be allowed to go in a first-class pack. The packer also secs that the 
boxes arc well filled but not overfull. 
