The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1917-08-17
war APPLE CROP
This Years Harvest of Fruit win
Help Whip Enemy.
SCARCITY OF PIcKERs FELT
Size Of Crop, Equal to Two Bushels
for Each Person In Land, Calls
for Special Methods Of
Handling for Market.

In a couple Of weeks we will begin
harvesting all over the United States
an apple crop equal to two bushels
for every man. woman and child in the
country. This Is a war crop. The
consumers Of the United States will
be urged to use apples In the food saw
Ing campaign by which we are in
creasing the amount of wheat and
other staple foods sent to our fighting
allies.
Eat an apple and send biscuit"
is the motto this year.
War conditions also confront the
apple growers, for there Is q scarcity
OF pickers, and careful preparations
must now be made to see that this
crop Is all safely harvested ard put
into storage. Now is the time to be-
gin organizing picking crews in every
apple growing section. A survey Of
the situation shows that the farmer
will need cooperation from business
men In the towns and cities round
about at which he trades, and which
have just as great an interest in this
crop as the farmer himself. This is
emergency organization work to be
taken up Immediately by chambers of
commerce, boards Of trade, state and
county councils of defense, and bust
ness men generally.
The labor supply to harvest this
crop exists right in the cities adjacent
to the apple orchards In most cases,
but the draft and demands of fac
tories and railroads for labor have
disturbed the normal supply of work
ers upon which the farmer usually
draws, and 1t Is necessary to recruit
new kinds Of workers. People who
have never regarded themselves as ap-
pie pickers may this year be asked to
60 to the orchards and help get in the
crop for patriotic reasons.
Much Is heard about the scarcity of
labor. but there is not as great a scar
city as most people imagine. Workers
upon whom the farmer depends In or
binary times have simply been shifted
into other occupations, and war condi-
lions demand that business men step
in, locate other classes of workers who
can be shifted to the orchards for this
emergency and see that the farmer has
plenty Of help.
There will probably be some diff
Guilty In harvesting the apple crop with
these volunteer workers, many of
whom have no experience at the work.
Perishable fruit must be handled care
fully to prevent injury to the skin and
bruises. These would later cause de-
cay when the apples 60 into storage.
The principles Of careful fruit pick
ing are very simple, and easily under
stood. II the farmer can start with
two or three experienced pickers and
spend a little time explaining good
picking methods to his volunteers he
should get excellent results, for these
volunteers, while new to the work, will
also be people Of good average intelli-
gence, and the war emergency will ap-
peal to their interest so that they will
be more than ready to help harvest the
crop skillfully.
Apple growers are advised to get In
touch with the business organizations
in their nearest town, ask that help be
given in securing pickers and report
the number Of pickers needed by them
selves. One of the greatest difficult
ties in organizing harvest hands for
any crop Is that of gathering accurate
information as to how many helpers
are needed on each farm and in each
township. For lack Of such informa-
ton 1t very often happens that one
township will be handicapped because
it Is without sufficient helpers and a
township twenty-five or thirty miles
away will have a surplus of workers.
BY ascertaining In advance just how
many workers will be needed in each
locality, business organizations will be
able to recruit a sufficient force.
This years apple crop calls for spe-
cial methods Of handling. The size Of
the crop makes 1t necessary to send
only the first-class fruit to market and
to see that all seconds and culls are
up into by-products. There must be
great care to see that apples are not
exposed to the heat or outdoors after
picking, but are properly housed in
temporary storage places on the farm
and carefully cooled. The scarcity of
pickers will probably make 1t neces-
sary to pick and house the crop first
and grade and pack it afterwards. Full
directions for handling the fruit will
be published later.
The great big task Immediately
ahead Is that Of securing picking
force, and in this work the business
man and the farmer are cooperating
to an extent never known before. This
is a war crop. 1t will be harvested
with war organization.