Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1917-08-21
HARVEST WAR CROP
OF APPLES SHORTLY
II VIII Equal Two Bushels for
Every Man, Woman and
Child in the Land.
STAPLE FOODS TO ALLIES
MOTTO ms Year Is eat an Apple and
Send Biscuit"-UnusuaI Need
For Handling crop-May Be
Short of Help.


vest IT'S great war crop of apples. 1t
equals two bushels to every man, wom-
an ana child in the country. In order
70 send as much staple food as posi-
Die to our fighting allies, Americans
are urged to use as many apples as
possible. The motto IL. S year is: "Eat
an apple and send biscuit"
War conditions also confront the
apple growers, for there is a scarcity
OF plckers, 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
nave 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 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 at 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
found among the womens organiza-
tons of this country.
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-
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.
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 little time explaining good
picking methods to his volunteers he
should get excellent results, for these
volunteers, while new to the work, will
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 it very often happens that one
township will be handicapped because
1t is without sufficient helpers and
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 and
there will be neither scarcity nor sur
plus IN any section.
This years apple crop calls for spe
cial methods of handling. The size of
the crop makes it necessary to send
only the 6rst-class fruit to market 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
plckers will probably make it 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 a picking
force, and in this work the business
man and the farmer are cooperating
80 an extent never known before. This
is a war crop. 1t will be harvested
with war organization.