As soon as the fingers became accustomed automatically to differentiate between hops and leaves and to strip half-a-dozen blossoms at a time there was no more to learn.
We worked nimbly, and as fast as the women themselves, though their bins filled more rapidly because of their swarming children, each of which picked with two hands almost as fast as we picked.
"Don'tcher pick too clean, it's against the rules," one of the women informed us; and we took the tip and were grateful.
As the afternoon wore along, we realised that living wages could not be made--by men.

Women could pick as much as men, and children could do almost as well as women; so it was impossible for a man to compete with a woman and half-a-dozen children.

For it is the woman and the half-dozen children who count as a unit, and by their combined capacity determine the unit's pay.
"I say, matey, I'm beastly hungry," said I to Bert.

We had not had any dinner.
"Blimey, but I could eat the 'ops," he replied.
Whereupon we both lamented our negligence in not rearing up a numerous progeny to help us in this day of need.

And in such fashion we whiled away the time and talked for the edification of our neighbours.