WITH OREGON HOP PICKERS 95
Their desire for amusement after a monotonous day in the field is legitimate and should be gratified, and the experiment of the Young Women's Christian Association would seem to indicate that wholesome entertainments would be appreciated by the ma- jority. It would be unreasonable to expect such a company to settle down to quiet at dark, satisfied with only the work. Hu- man beings are not so constructed, for frequently the longest days of monotonous toil seem to demand nights of exciting pleas- ure. The factory girl in the city will dance till daylight after a hard day's work and feel that only with such relaxation is life worth living. How much more, then, will such people as gather in a hop yard, with the spirit of an outing upon them, need to be amused. If nothing better be provided, the saloon and dance hall will satisfy the craving.
The chief needs of the hop fields, then, as I observed them, are better organization and more wholesome recreation. The one could be cared for by the owner, the other by some outside group interested in social welfare, and I earnestly hope that both these needs will be met in the near future.
As the hop season returns I shall want to journey out to Oregon and don the calico frock and apron, with the picker's stout gloves and neck-kerchief, to sleep again on the bed of straw and rise in the dawn to help harvest the blossoms, and even to endure again the cruel weariness it implies, to enjoy the true democracy of the motley crowd, and to watch the future reali- zation of betterment efforts.
Long live the Oregon hop pickers!
