Do You Remember: Fruit Picking

Monday morning

Go down to the orchard

Help with picking the fruit

They will pay you for how much you pick

Pocket money for you

 

Down at the orchard

A gang of pickers

Students contracted

For summer work

 

At the end of the row

Were piles of wooden boxes

Trugs made of woven willow

Weighing scales

Several short ladders

 

"Have you come to work?

" yes, sir!

"Name, how old are you

       you have to be thirteen"

"er, Thirteen sir."

"You're from the farm aren't you?

"Yes, sir!

 

"OK take a ladder and a trug,

Clear every tree, leave nothing on them

He, pointing at a youth

  will show you your row

Followed the youth

Put what you pick in this box

They pay you tonight

 

Set the ladder against the tree

Picked everything in reach climbed higher

Moved the ladder round

Until the tree was cleared

On to the next tree

 

By the end of the day

The box at the end of my row was too heavy

The youth came and carried it to be weighed

Two Pounds

Another man recorded it and handed two one-pound notes

We are at 'Grayfriars Farm' tomorrow if you want

Thank you, sir,

Alright son if you want to go

 

Reviews

[Gee]

Can't imagine the youth of today dragging themselves away from their gadgets to pick fruit, no chance. Foreign labour shipped in to do work seemed to menial by our society's spongers. Why work when you can shell kids like peas and the state will pick up the tab for everything.
Another enjoyable trip back in time

[Wild Rose]

Yes on our travels Spain etc we see exactly the same set up 70 year later people picking fruit > Lettuce etc. in the fields
But there again they are mostly Rumanian - The Spanish say the work is to menial, hard and low paid

[Neville]

Yes indeed, this took me back a bit and true.... I distinctly recall picking apples and potatoes too... backbreaking it was and all for just a few bob...... cheers ... N

[Wild Rose]

True hard work poor pay > Go to Spain and you will see the same system operating > with Rumanian workers

[Neville]

I don't doubt it, I have good Bulgarian friends who are extremely well qualified teachers and engineers who earn more in England picking fruit than they ever did in their jobs back home....