Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1917-08-22
GREAT WAR CROP OF
APPLES FOR PEOPLE
OF THE NATION SOON
1t viii Equal Two Bushels for
Every Person in the Country.
Special Efforts Will Be Made to Handle
Fruit Without Any Loss-May
Find Help Shortage in Some
Places-Staples to Allies.

must do everything possible 10 luI-
| nish sufficient food to help our fighting
| allies. We must eat more perishable
and semiperishable food at home in
order that the staple articles, such as
wheat, may be sent abroad in great
amounts. In a couple of weeks we
will begin harvesting apples all over
the country. This is a war crop. Ii
will amount to two bushels for every
man, woman and child in the United
States. The motto this year is: Eat
an apple and send a biscuit"
War conditions also confront the
apple growers, for there is scarcity
of pickers, and careful preparations
must now be made to see that this
crop is all safely harvested and 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
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 it is necessary to recruit
new kinds of workers. People who
have never regarded themselves as ap-
pie pickers may this year be asked to
go to the orchards and help get in the
crop for patriotic reasons.
The organization work should take
the form of an immediate survey of
labor resources to see where picking
force is to be recruited. Stores and
factories can often release clerks and
workmen for this service if notified in
time Families who would like week
or two of vacation in the country with
light, healthy outdoor work al satisfac-
tory wages, may also be induced to
join the picking army. 1t has been sug-
gested that the schools might be OPEN
ed later this year so that boys and girls
can be sent to the orchards but this
will not be necessary in all cases. One
very good source of pickers can be
+1n NAf13c 10
tons of this country, which are all
keenly interested in helping in any
practical patriotic work.
Much is heard about the scarcity of
labor, but there is not as great 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-
tons 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 go into storage.
The principles of careful fruit pick
ing are very simple, and easily under
stood. If 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 Informal
ton it 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