Show irresponsible pickers discharged by growers exchange club committee called in to learn reasons for action fields give evidence of careless work careless work and In dependability were w ere alleged by representatives 0 of tho pacific producers lar largest 9 est pea growers in the tha valley as the reasons tor for their action in discharging or refusing to employ fifty or more local pickers mostly small children during the week santas and rose growers and mr air martin representing the company stated that careless picking had resulted in a good share 0 of the lie crops being lett left on the vines necessitating a second picking to get what should have been picked the first time and that too many other pickers who were otherwise satisfactory could not be depended on to show up for picking only part of the time expressing a desire to cooperate with the community and to use local labor as tar far as possible the tha growers asked tor for a committee from the exchange club or the community to go into the to got get first hand information so they might not misunderstand the action in sing the seemingly large number at local pickers A committee consisting of john H pendleton ray D garner W W mitchell Ml and ormon weight went d down an to the pea fields tuesday afternoon and found plenty of evidence of carelessness to substantiate the complaint of the growers long stretches in many of the rows had been skipped shipped necessitating a second covering of the patch by pickers to avoid the patch getting too old Grower stated that a second picking on saturday last on one patch produced more than forty hampers of peas which should have hato been taken oft off the first time it peas are missed they not only become too old for the market but they take the strength of the vines and keep lyv icv peas from forming tor mins the growers state so that careless picking can call easily mean the difference between a profit and a loss to growers alo most alot t of the trouble they stated was caused from their attempt to let children pick who were really too small and inexperienced and were irresponsible and it was mostly these smaller children who were S sent ent into the fields without any parental supervision who were discharged there were a few older persons however who were lot let go As an illustration one girl seventeen or eighteen years old from a neighboring wm community picked only two hampers during the day while others in id the field several years younger were picking six eight and ten hampers pickers who are irregular who pick one or two days then lay jay oft off a couple of days are also a source of trouble to the growers the pert pen crop is highly perishable in that peas get too old in 4 couple of days after they are ready and it is important that growers have a group of pickers who can be depended up on tho the committee of 0 local men who went into the fields it at growers request though they urged that local labor be used so far as possible appreciated precia ted that growers must have hava dependable help to harvest the crop it if they are to make sufficient profit to justify a continuation of the industry in the valley the availability of a sufficient number of transient pickers people who follow tho the business and are experienced and probably more dependable than some of the smaller children locally make the growers less dependent oh local help there are about a hundred pickers from out side here in the fields now and more available on short notice the committee reels feels that parents can do much toward their childrens 1 retaining jobs by going with and supervising their activities so far os as possible and by impressing upon them the importance of doing careful conscientious work tor for the employers |