The hopyards at Agassiz
were the biggest BC Hop operations. There were about 5 or 6
big acreages and a smaller yard at Hammersley Prairie near
the Limbert farm.
In the winter, in December and January,
they had to have coarse cocoanut twine tied and knotted.
They came in bundles of 200 and my family used to have the
contract to do this very tedious task. They used to bring it
to our house in 5 ton trucks and fill our living room to the
ceiling. It was terribly dusty and the coarseness of the
twine hurt our fingers, but in those days it gave us a small
income. The job usually took 4 to 6 weeks and we made $.10 a
bundle, so it only netted us $200$300, but it helped. They
put the string in the ground and tied the top to wires which
were then lifted and the hop vines climbed on the string,
hence the reason for having coarse string.
There were sometimes many Chinese men living i n our
store upstairs, who had come to work on the building of
the railroad. My grandfather was the labor agent who had
brought over many hundreds of Chinese men. When the
railroad was finished, some of the men stayed to work in
the hopyards. They used to work for $1.30 to $1.50 a
day. They had to walk every day to and from our store on
Pioneer Street. A few were lucky enough to live in
buildings on the hopyards but the ones who walked had to
carry their tools with them (machetes, shovels, etc).
Every August 15 to October (about 4-6 weeks), they used
to bring in hop pickers and their families - about
800-1200, from all over, mostly natives from BC, but
others came too as jobs were scarce in those days. They
had many cabins and a community hall. Everyone treated
it like a holiday for they didn't make much, sometimes
only $1.50 a day, but they could take all the kids and
family out with them. There were three stores at the
yards, Ernie Webb, Carl Inkman and my mother, Mary Fong.
Mother also had a restaurant. We were extremely busy and
my sisters and I sometimes worked 20 hours on the
weekend. The workers had dances, church, boxing matches
and sports, so it was a very lively place. We had such
long hours that Amy and I used to sleep at the
restaurant. Sometimes the sound of the drunks and
activities would scare us, so we always slept with a
crowbar beside us. Sometimes there would be a drunken
fight after a dance and we used pepper to throw and
settle them. I doubt if anything would work today, but
in those days they never meant to harm you.
We used to get paid by tickets, no cash until the season
ended, so it was a lot of money to keep. Mother used to
hide the tickets every day and at the end of the season,
it would take us several days to add them up. Of course,
during the first years, there were no adding machines.
One thing, it sure helped me with my math!
In the .first years the company was managed by Albert
Greyell and when he passed, Helen and Theodore Greyell
took over. They were very fair and exceedingly great to
work for. Later, they didn't think hops were needed to
make beer so they downsized the farm and moved it to
Creston, BC.
There was a very nice and handy Chinese fellow who used
to work for the hop company. He was the only one year
round and he used to be so kind to us kids, like buying
us bananas and things we couldn't afford. He never
expected anything in return. The Greyells took him with
them to Creston and he died in a fire in his cabin. I
have always felt so bad that when I could repay him for
his kindness, he's gone. Funny how life is.
Anyway, we had to work so hard during those hopyard
days, but it was an education and it was a very
interesting and rewarding chapter in my life. In my days
as a Sheriff and Corrections Matron, it was surprising
to have come in contact with many of the hop pickers I
knew in the hop fields.
We used to bake pies and sold them - raisin $.25, apple
$.20, lemon and cream $.30 and doughnuts and muffins
$.20 a dozen. Amy and I used to pack cold pop ($.05),
cooked corn and doughnuts right into the fields and sell
them to the pickers and their families. We were very
welcome as it was a long tedious day for them. At first
we took the bottles of pop and corn and doughnuts on a
bicycle and later on, we managed to buy a used car. I
was given permission to drive by the magistrate at 13
years because my Dad died when I was 2 years and Mother
had brought up 5 kids and never accepted any help or
welfare.
When we closed the store at nights, I used to carry home
in my purse all the money or hop tickets and now when I
think how lucky we were in those days that no robbery
took place, especially with just us girls. We never had
a cash register, just put the money in a box. There were
no refrigerators except for the ice cream one. We used
to make 200 cream and lemon pies on the special weekends
and no refrigeration. It's a wonder no one got sick!
The kids used to come into the store with their runny
noses and sucking on the coins. It really bothered me,
so every night I dumped all the coins in bleach before I
counted the money. I washed all the dishes in the
restaurant with Perfex bleach.
It was a hectic time, but it gave us a pretty good
living. In my little store, I used to sell 100 cases (24
bottles each) of pop a day and a Vancouver firm had to
bring me watermelon, grapes and peaches in a 5 ton truck
once a week.
Queenie Pink Support of
Heroes of Confederation Project