The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1893-10-28
of thousands of hands that are ting

Picking and curing are the final
processes. Perhaps from $4,000 to
100000 souls could at one time be
found in the op-gardens of Kent.
Half OF these are from London, aud
comprise the most indiscribable lot
of human various" ever drawn to-
gether by common interest in all
the world If field oftwenty acres
is to be picked, there will be from
six to ten "sets" ofpickers with from
half dozen to score of piekers in
. each set. These, ranged along the
entire length of the fireld, are each
supplied with "bin." The bin is
rude, low frame work of old poles,
built after the fashion of an Ameri-
can settlers logcabin, about three
feet wide and six feet long, with ele-
waited cross takes at each end sup
porting stout pole above the pick
ers' heads, like the rider" rail of an
old fashioned stake and rider" Amer
lean rail fence, against which the
hop poles and their feathery, odor-
GUS burdens are rested while the hops
are being picked and flung into the
sack, depending from the bins cor
ners below.
The pickers are supplied with poles
of hops by pole pullers, )" employed
by the hopraiser. There will be one
to set, if the set comprises a large
number of pickers, and often one
man will supply two or three. He is
provided with an implement called
a chop dog" With this be not only
cuts the bines or vines close above
the ground but also prizes ("prizes"
be will call i'll the pole out of the
ground, and carries it and its downy
fruitage to the busy piekers near
Women follow the pullers and stack
the discarded vines for use by the
compost makers or the mills where
the cheaper grades of paper are
made, and stacks the poles into tidy
piles against the next seasons use.
In this way hop garden is cleaned
up as closely as if swept by an army
of grasshoppers or an all consuming
fire.
In the meantime huge four wheeled
carts and wagons are gathering up
she hops for tue coasts" or kilns
The master" usually measures the
hops from the bins. Pickers are paid
on the basis of certain agreed up
on number of bushels to the shilling
-four, five. six or even eight, ae-
cording to the leanness or fairness Of
the crops. Precedent old as hops in
Kent demands that he shall not have
a "heayy hand, }" that is, that he shall
not press together the hops taken
from the bin; and an equally unim-
peachable custom will not permit him
to pack or heap the almost weightless
stuff in the measures Scores of keen
and almost savage eyes are upon his
every movement Tho must
hover " in the bushel, or be drop
ped in it as lightly as can be: and
were the bushels heaped an iota
above their rims the master knows
that instead of hops u series of strik
as ard riots would instantly be on
his hands. Following him is always
the tally-man who credits the meas
urement of each "set" in the italy
books" and the custom is that the
pickers may at any time draw in
cash TO that amountof three fourths
of what is due; the remaining one
fourth to be forfeited should the
pickers leave the master before his
crop is gathered.
All sorts of signals are used to
bring the piekers together in the
morning and afternoon. Some of the
old farm houses have belfries and
bells. At others hand bells are rung
in and about the pickers' quarters
and camp. Tin horns are common
and the conch shell horn is not in
frequent. Work begins shortly after
dawn. The mid day rest as well as
quitting time at night are indicated
by the master or the tally-man en-
tering the field aud shouting "No
more poles!" This is in turn shout
ed by the pole pHllers: and at once
scores, and often hundreds, of pick
ers' voices will-eeho, frequently de-
risively, and always in mimicry, the
order for temporary release from toll.
In many fields the pickers wed their
cry to improvised doggerel rhymes
fitted to the air of the latest popular
London music hall ballads, and
make much melodious elamor as they
are leaving the fields.
EDGAR l.. WAKEMAN.