Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-09-20
AxOHG THE HOP.PrcKERS.
The Psspis whs Nlnks Up ire MulsisuAs En-.
ssssd In the Work.

tuned up his fiddle for the hop-pickers
dance in James Howlett's hop-kiln, tw
miles from this village, writes Munns
vile, n. y, correspondent to the Ne'
York Nail and Express. A couple Q
lanterns were hung from the roof. an
nobody wanted things any lighter
Square dances were the rule. an,
it was a rare sight to see tn
men come stamping down tn
floor with their overalls tucked in
side their boots, wearing blue jumpers
and making the dust fly with their thicl
soles. How they spun the girls aroun'
when Sammy played quicker and said
Lively, now" And then the wal
in which they bowed and scraped ant
shook a nimble foot at " salute you
partners !" And how the rafters RAM
in an "all hands round" with every
body stepping around as lively as pos
sible and the fiddle going little quicker
every minute and screaming triumph
anily above all the noise ! Of course
every body was red in the fac,
and all out Of breath. bit in q
little while they were all right again and
ready for fresh start. When Sammy
got tired a boy with an ACCORDION spell.
ed him. All the girls were in Their
best clothes, and had lots of ribbons
and earrings, and all that sort of thing,
but the belle Of the hop-kiln dance was
q young lady with great mass Of au-
burn hair, who is the reigning beauty
of the hop-yards of this locality. Other
girls say that her hair is red, and that
the boys help fill her box in the field.
The owners Of yards encourage these
dances at their own places, for other
wise the hop-pickers would be apt to
20 to a neighboring village and not come
home till it was about time to 90 afeld-
O'Clock A. NJ.
The driver Of the huntsville stage
said recently: 81 s'pose there amt
many people left in the cities now hop
pickin' has begun" He seemed quite
surprised when told that the cities were
not entirely deserted. 1t is q fact,
however, that both town and country
in this part of the State are asked to
take hold and help pick hops, and there
are not less than ten thousand pickers
who 60 out Of the city of Syracuse
alone. The hop-grower lives on his
own place and is usually small farmer
in addition to being a hop-producer.
In August he employs a canvassing
agent to secure him a company oil
pickers, and pays him so cents bonus
for every picker. The grower also
pays the picker's railroad fare and
boards him. To do the latter the farm
er's wife sacrifices the best room. with
its weeping willow over a tombstone
done in needlework, and the formers
daughter the cabinet organ. Carpets
are taken up and they and the best fur
niture slowed away in one room unser
lock and key. Every available room in
the house is then filled with beds for
the women. The men are slowed in the
barn and woodshed. | have been sleep
ing in a barn where there is plenty
of room between the clapboards
for the wind to frisk in and out.
There were no sheets left, but | was
made immensely comfortable with a
wolf robe. My neighbOr was the son
Of the owner Of the yard, and he was
for waking the family in the
So before he blew out our
lantern he set an alarm-clock. After
we had been asleep for a few minutes
he got up and began blowing hideous
blasts on horn. told him that the
clock had gone off prenaturely, but he
that it was 4 o'clock and time
for breakfast. There wasn't much Sc
curity, anyway, in going to sleep with
that treacherous clock around, so
breakfast of ham, eggs, and coffee was
eaten and drank.
The women and children were driven
to the hop-field, while the rest of us
1t was shockingly early
o'clock. In the first place we were in
PRODUCED to the hop-boxes, that consist
Of one big box divided into four, two
On a side. The whole clumsy affair
ooks like an apple-woman's stand,
only bigger, with an awning over it of
canvas or burlaps to protect the pickers
rom the sun. A man pulls up hop
pole and vine, cutting off the latter
.bout foot from the ground, and leans
t up against the end of the hop-stand
70 that pickers facing each other can
lave an equal chance at the clus-
ers. 1t is this mans business
o keep all the pickers supplied with
,oles as fast as they call for them. Each
in is big enough for a man to curl up
n, and would hold about ten bushels
# wheat. was told that when had |
lied that with hops l would be given
|. ticket that, at the end Of the season,
could exchange for % cents. The I
yerage man would want q week to fill |
ne Of those reservoirs. Many Of the
ills said they could only fill one box a
lay. A fairly good picker will fill two, |
smart one three, and a remarkably |
mart one four boxes day. As soon
S a box is filled its contents are
implied into sack and taken to the
lin. There were thirty pickers in the
eld, and they included all ages and
9th sexes-gray-haired men and wo-
zen, little children, and lively young
iris, fully capable of replying to the
ests Of the boys. Long before noon
he children and girls got very tired,
nd watched for the blast of the now
enehcent and commendable horn. A
inner Of fried meat and potatoes was
apidly harpooned, and chunks of apple
lie were lightly tossed away then to
-ork till dark, then supper and a
dance for the young people, and a
ipe and bed for the old ones.
This is fair picture of hop-reker's
ay. The season lasts about three
'eeks, and the profits Of the best work.
rs are not more than els, with slO
eng about fair average for three
eeks' work, from daybreak to sun
own. Why do people work at such a
ard and poor-paying job? In hop
ickers' language, for the :" fun of the
ling" They like the freedom from
j restraint; the outdoor life, the
nvaltv of nsu scapae and ooonIo and !