The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1907-06-06
GROWERS SUFFER
HEAVY LOSSES

River have suffered an unprecedented
loss thi season. The loss occa stoned
by the shortage of help during the
last four days, can never be regained
this season. Hood River has never
exper fenced such lack for adequate
help during the berry season as she
has undergone this week. We have
usually had an over plus of pickers
and packers.
The causes that have conspired to
produce this condition are manifold
and obvious. In the first instance
wages for all classes of ordinary labor,
have never reached such high mark
as the present standard indicates.
Common labor commands from 81. 80
to $3 per day, and the demand is far
In excess Of the supply. Under these
condition the classes. who ordinarily
seek the berry fields of Hood River at
this time of the year are now employ
ed at home receiving good wages.
The people who actually factor In
the harvesting of the Hood River ber-
ry crop are the families and the In
dians. There have been comparatively
few families coming in this season,
nuu tuC puObd VI luuldus 10 IhT uolUW
the usual number. The dudes and
young women, who usually come to
have time cannot be depended upon
as steady help. They are as migrate
ry as the hours Of the day.
Again the Mt. Hood and Crapper
districts are nearly week earlier
than ordinary years. Mt. Hood ber-
ries arrived June A. This is the ear
liest date that berries have ever ar
rived from that district and as the
lower valley about week late, it
throws the open season over greater
territDIy than usual. This condition
demands far greater number of
pickers than are required when the
season between these different die
triots come in their accustomed Or
der. Usually we are about ten days
apart in reaching the heavy ripening
stage of the crop. This permitt a
shifting of the pickers from the lower
to the upper valley.
Again the growers have been de-
pending on genera; circumstances to
conspire together to create a condi.
tion that will furnish them help at
their doors, or at lest by driving to
the boat landing and picking up what
help they seemed to require. There
has been a serious lack of definite
effort to secure competent help. The
Davidson Fruit Co., the Strawberry
Growers union and the Glacier office
are in possession of hundreds of pri.
vate communications from parties re-
mote asking for the names of growers
nd fes inf hn
tiIns. K. II. Shepard, manager of the
Strawberry Growers union, informed
the Glacier representative that he had
about four or five hundred letters
from different parties making such
inquiries. 1t can readily be seen that
this correspondence cannot be handled
judioiously by the commission firms
or the local paper. However, II the
growers had awaited themselves of the
opportunity afforded for engaging
these parties by private correspon-
dence the present conditions could
have been materially relieved.
Growers are now crowding to every
train and boat and the anxious pick
or OF packer is snappd up. as the
trout snaps the fly. In fact two grow
rs had f1st fight on Monday fore
noon in their endeavar to settle the
dispute as to which one had the first
right to interview a bunch of pros.
pective pickers.
The highest prices ever paid for
picking and packing. in the valley,
are now being paid. The general
price for picking is now cents per
pound and Is cents per crate for
packing. Some growers are paying
21a cents for picking and 20 cents for
packing. These prices seem high to
the grower. However, they are not
out Of proportion to other classes of
labor.
Hood River can use several hundred
pickers at pre- sent and at current
prices good wages can be realized. In
conversation with different growers,
we find that many of the BERRY fields
have not been entirely gone over for
two days. This will cause great
many overripes that will not bear
picking or packing. Hence they are
practically tJtal loss. However they
must be picked from the vine in or
der to bring the field back to its
proper shipping stage.
The season Is now at its hest and
unless we get spell of cooler weather
1t Will not continue over 10 days long
or. The advance of the shipments has
not affected the prices as materially
as in other years. Prices have been
quite uniform this far and the de
mand has been steady. The shipments
to date aggregate 200 crates and 1t
is estimated that the years output will
reach about rs, 000 crates or ll5 cars.
The new N. P. refrigerator cars which
have been furnished this season far
surpass any line of refrigerators that
have heretofore been supplied for the
moving Of the crop. The acoustic
principles are as near perfect as can
be designed and the ice TANKS are OF
superior size and make.
Car loads have been moving on good
schedules, and it is expected that the
berries will reach the most remote
destinations 10 first class condition.