The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1917-08-16
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 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 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 a 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
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 ana railroads for labor have
disturbed the normal supply of work
ers upon which the farmer usually
| draws and il 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.
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 cOndl-
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
~ nf
whom have no experience at the work.
| Perishable fruit must be handled care
| fully to prevent injury 10 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 n little time explaining good
! picking methods to his volunteers he
volunteers, while new to the work, will
also be people of good average lntelli-
| gence. and the war emergency will APP
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 plckers needed by them
selves. one of the greatest Difficult
| ties in organizing harvest hands for
any crop is that of gathering accurate
! information us 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
ii Is without sufficient helpers and q
| township twenty-five or thirty miles
away will have a surplus of workers
BY ascertninlng in advance just how
many workers will be needed in each
locality, business organizations will be
able to recruit sufficient force.
This years apple crop calls for spe
cial methods Of handling. The size OF
only the tirst-class fruit to M ,ket and
to see that all seconds and culls are
sold In bulk around home or worked
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
| Dickprs will probably make II npces
sary to pick and house the crop first
and grade and pack 1t afterwards. Full
directions for handling the fruit will
be published later.
The great big task Immediately
ahead Is that of securing a picking
force. and in this work the business
man and the farmer are cooperating
TO an extent never known before. This
is war crop. 1t will be harvested
with war organization.