The Detroit times., 1914-09-26
HARVEST in
|EGON IS NOW
ELI UNDER WAY
~ Requires Services Of at
Leosf 5000 Men. Women
and Children
In TENTED
TOWNS DURING SEASON
|nny Families Make Enough
During Picking Time to Live
During Winter

PORTLAND. Ore. Sept. 26.-More
han 1000 men, wcmen and children
S ~ this city are employed in the an
>unl hop harvest. now going on In
1)teeon. Altogether some 10000 per-
IONS ale thus employed. Some yards
Fill be picked by Japanese exclusive
/f. They travel IN groups OF $50 each
NOM one yard TO another. The aver
|&xe big yards require $50 pickers,
Vhiie the largest, such as Wigricn,
near independence. employ 500 men.
The present Oregon crop will exceed
+ 81. 600 bales, aggregating 2S,OO0,0O0
c<luds At ordinary prices 1t viii
&lnx over $6,000.000, but the war
M boost them.
The large yards usually furnish
ntn where tents are not furnished
|tyesfers usually take their own
e. Each camp ground becomes a
Iky Y with regular streets, hydrants
patrol OF deputy sheriffs. Wood
"a potatoes are usually supplied TO
tvesters Sanitation Is strictly
ked after. Each large yard has
- xrocery store, with fixed moderate
Ices. There are also restaurants.
u
When q hop camp is settled the
Investors must await announcement
W the date when picking will begin.
@hereafter all the pickers go to bed
Hnr1y At 4 a. m. the first alarm Is
ounded. repeated at intervals from
IA directions. Fires are started half
~ hour later Breakfast Is over by
y: <6 At s o'clock the picking begins.
The pickers are numbered and
ows are allotted, two pickers to the
oW. Then the order Is given TO be-
III picking Calls OF Wire down.
Pole down." are heard, according
whether the hops are grown on
1re or poles. After the first call or
)0x FULL" all settle down to al
<oady grind. A lunch hour follows
oon All quit at s p. m.
Pfckers get so cents a box. The
ooord Is % boxes, the second best
= boxes, where prizes were offered.
ne exceptional picker does 10 boxes
day and the merely good FIVE or six
This year the dance craze possesses
|{he hop camps. Never before were
mere 90 many large dance halls in
+heir vicinity. These halls will ac-
|tosnmodate zoo couples. Deputy sher-
|IEs keep order. The hop pickers'
|1>ro-step" affords change Of partners
~ one man tagging" another, so
HIT ncQuaintances are rapidly made.
hen man refuses to change
nktners he Is challenged to go out
I1e and settle the matter with fists,
1Id the winner either keeps his part
&of or changes.
on the last day Of picking the yard
Ixes = bonus Of Ave per cent to all
Who have worked In II for one year.
There are watermelon and musk
1olon feasts. Some owners throw
HOO 70 the children to scramble for.
1kticularly those who get In their
A *oos before bad weather destroys
lore or less hops. A ring is roped
VIZ, with the children standing out
IGo. The first half or the money Is
&rown In the ring. At the word
<Io!r the kids make wild dash In
|G1do. Then the last half Is thrown in.
Next IS in pennies Is thrown In for
IN persons under rs years OF age,
|1nking for rough times among the
1l6ers.
The final scene 10 the wild scram.
~ of the hop pickers to get home.
ho hop picking season nets families
rpugh to live on through the winter.