Chadbourn, May 7—The old days when Chadbourn was in its glory, as the largest strawberry market in the ?? have come again, or you will think so if you will come and stand at the corner of the Bank of Chadbourn some evening and see the ?? the of wagons, each more than a mile in length, which are waiting their turn at the berry sheds ?? tickets that mean a count?? money to thousands of growers of Columbus.
a ?? long on the roads of Columbus and adjoining counties can ?? the rumbling of the trucks of berry growers who are out in the manner of ?? of berry pickers. If there is anyone willing to come and pick berries, distance is apparently no handicap. The trucks go after then and bring them in and carry them back at night if the distance is short. If they live afar they come for the week or two weeks, pitch camp in any sort of a shelter. Almost by sunrise they are dotting the berry fields; sometimes in bunches of five or 10, sometimes by hundreds, according to the size of the field and the ability of the growers to get pickers. Small children get two to three dollars per day. Experienced pickers come nearer averaging five. All make good money, all are happy with their work. To many of them it savors of an old fashioned camp meeting.
The Bank of Chadbourn is in the throes, so to speak, handling the stream of growers that pour in with checks to be cashed or for deposit, is a problem for a dozen men. Many thousands of dollars are being paid out hourly during sale hours and every employee of the bank is kept at a pay window for hours on end. Efficiency is all that enables them to take care of the never ending calls for cash and deposit slips.
A sort of summary of the week’s activities, day by day, may be the best way to handling this story and the balance if it will be written according.
Saturday: Previous to today only eight cars had been purchased at Chadbourn, prices had hung around six dollars as most of the fruit had been of inferior quality owing to frosts early in the season. Today started with a rush and 18 car loads were purchased at prices running from $5 to $9.50 per crate. the berries were of good quality and bidding grew lively late in the afternoon, growers were looking ahead to Monday with considerable alarm and fears that they would not have enough labor to take care of the rapidly ripening crop. Saturday night and even on Sunday many growers scoured surrounding counties in trucks in search of pickers for work during the coming week.
Monday: Warm dry weather Sunday and an almost summer temperature today turned the berry fields into what might be described as a shamble of ripened fruit. Growers found themselves with a totally inadequate supply of labor and no prospects of relief for the situation, unless the elements were to be depended upon for rain or cooler weather which would check up the ripening process. Twenty-eight standard car loads of berries were marketed at Chadbourn today and Tabor reported 10 cars. At times during the afternoon at Chadbourn there were two lines of wagons, automobiles and trucks a mile in length. Many growers had to wait in one or the other of these lines for hours while it slowly moved along until they could take their turn under the marketing shed. Prices were somewhat off, due to a great amount of overripe fruit. Quite a bit of berries sold as low as $2.50 per crate on account of the berries being too ripe for good shipping. Good berries brought $5, $6 and $7 per crate. Hundreds of growers reported they did not get more than half over their fields on account of labor shortage—much fruit accordingly went to waste.
Brown Brothers purchased ?? out of the 27 cars, balance by others buyers—91 cars of berries on the yards awaiting re-icing and shipping at 7 p.m. Hundreds of women and children berry pickers quartered in all manner of outbuildings on farms and in the town.
Tuesday: Hauling brisk today and staring early in the morning there was less congestion than occurred on Monday. Wagons were not kept so long in line. Prices were slightly igher and the quality of the fruit was better as pickers had passed by the overripe fruit. $5 per crate was given by one buyer as the average for the day. Twenty-two cars bought and shipped tonight. Labor conditions seem a little better. A slight fall in temperature and partially cloudy weather brought encouragement to all. Growers are hoping for rain.
Wednesday: Little improvement in prices marked today’s sales despite the fact that many well informed folks had been saying the price would go up. Twenty car loads were bought, an average price of about $5 per crate. A couple of crates sold for $15 each. The berries were generally good in quality and the wagons and vehicles passed under the buying shed at the rate of about three per minute, the waiting lines from the north and south were never more than a quarter of a mile in length.
Notes
While is has never been expected that this year’s crop would bring the big prices that last year’s did, growers cannot restrain disappointment at the extremely low market, alghout they are making money at present prices. It is still bvelieved tha the market will advance, and cold weather Wednesday and today are doing much to encourage growers. Chadbourn had only a slight fall of rain Wednesday, not enough to do any good. The growers around Whiteville apparently had plenty of rain.
An unusually large amount of berries are going by express to Columbia and Charleston, S.C., and other points. Express shipments are generally made up of berries too ripe to go in the regulation cars for long hauls to distant markets.
Labor shortage and unsatisfactory prices for berries will cause a great amount of fruit to go to waste this season. The pickers could not get around to them until after they were too ripe for ordinary shipping.
From the front page of the Whiteville News-Reporter, May 8, 1924. Experienced pickers earned $5 a day, which is the equivalent of $91.33 in May, 2024, according to the Inflation Calculator, accessed May 8, 2024.
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