Flower basket is a collective name for fruit basket and firewood basket, although the two are homologous, but the place of use and use are different, the local people are commonly known as flower baskets. The former is used exclusively for the picking and transshipment of pear fruits, while the latter is used exclusively for the loading and reversing of firewood.
Fruit baskets are widespread and numerous, and can be seen in orchards, on carriages, cars, trains, and in urban and rural fruit companies, either stacked or stacked into mountains, sometimes covered in tarpaulin.
Although the range of activity of the firewood basket is small, every farmer has it, in the local fields, between the woodlands, on the shoulders of adults and children, in the courtyards of the households, or in the shadows of the single, or three or five companions, often see them.
Legend has it that during the Spring and Autumn Period, the nations were in strife and the political situation was chaotic. In the internal coup of the Zhou Dynasty, when the country collapsed, the doctor Canghong relied on his ingenuity and wisdom to unite with external forces to quell the rebellion. After the political situation stabilized, Cang Honggong was jealous of King Jing of Zhou, and in order to avoid disasters, he resigned his official position to King Jing of Zhou and led his family to his fiefdom, the mountains northwest of Yuzhou, to live a secluded life. Chang hong is not an ordinary person, he is inspired by the bird's nest in the tree, trying to weave various household utensils out of the tree strips. There are a variety of tree strips on the hillside and riverbank for him to choose from. Chang Hong himself may not have imagined that the utensils he made of tree strips to hold things became the prototype of baskets, baskets, and baskets used by people in modern times.
There are records: the bronze seal of the blue bird pattern in the Western Han Dynasty, its printing surface diameter of 23 mm, the height of 9 mm, the printing surface is concave and cast pattern, the shape is a blue bird carrying a basket.
The literary scholar Mao Dun wrote in "Crossing the Blockade Line": "The mountain is about two miles away from the village, and the other ordinary people in the village are also driving cattle and pigs, carrying baskets and baskets."
In summary, it can be seen that the flower basket of the same kind as a basket has a long history and has been used by humans from ancient times to the present.
There are many materials for local fruit baskets, and various woody trees such as thorns, willows, mulberries, and wax can be used. The selection of materials is relatively easy, mostly collected on the slopes, cols or river banks; the braiding process is also relatively simple, not soaked, not peeled, long enough, smooth enough, in a semi-dry state of weaving is appropriate. The fruit basket is round throughout, with a diameter of about 35 cm at the bottom of the basket, a diameter of about 45 cm at the mouth of the basket, and a height of about 50 cm. The weaving process is mainly horizontal, vertical and different flowers, and is roughly divided into three processes: starting the bottom, weaving the body, and closing the mouth. At the bottom, the weft bars are wrapped around the radial warp strips in a circle, and when the bottom diameter reaches the size, the warp strips are turned over and tied at the top to start weaving the basket. At the lower end of the basket body more than 10 centimeters, the weft strip is follow-up woven; At more than 20 centimeters in the middle, the weft bars are woven into an "X" shape, which is synthesized with the warp into a "*" shape pattern, which has a beautiful and weight-reducing effect; then there is a follow-up weave of more than 10 centimeters of weft bars; and finally, the closing, all the warp strips are twisted into a twist shape, and one ring after another is wrapped around the edge and is interspersed and locked. Such a fruit basket, a good weaver can weave a dozen a day.
In the large orchard of the Sanshan Forest Farm in the 1970s, people carried baskets to pick pears and fruits from trees, and under the trees were enough fruit baskets. When the basket is full, the pears are gently loaded into the basket and then opened to the fruit selection field. After the harvest is completed, people turn to the huge fruit selection field, and then the fruit mixed in the fruit basket is sorted into several grades according to the requirements, and reloaded into several fruit baskets, which can be covered after experience and weighing. The lid is monolithic, and the tools for capping are needles and hemp ropes.
According to the unified requirements of the fruit company at that time, a basket of apples weighed 60 pounds, and a basket of white pears weighed 80 pounds. In the process of picking, fruit selection and transportation, the inner wall of all fruit baskets has a protective layer, which is mostly tied into pieces with oak leaves, and also woven into lotuses with straw.
The fruit is transported by a large carriage, which can pull 60 to 80 fruit baskets in one car, and can only be unloaded after passing the quality inspection of the fruit company. If it is not qualified, the seller will send someone to the scene to re-select. Qualified fruits will be loaded onto trains and shipped throughout the country. At that time, there were very few varieties of local fruits, and the only fruits that were large enough to be transported were Guoguang, Chicken Crown, Waijin and White Pear. The price is also very low, the best is only a dime a pound, Wei Jin only buys five cents a pound. Fruit baskets are packaging that can be used again, and if they are not subject to rain, they can generally be used continuously for three years, so we have seen empty fruit baskets returning on the train skin, and empty fruit baskets piled up like hills in the units that produce fruits and in the compound of the fruit company.
In the 1980s, orchard picking and fruit farm sorting links still used fruit basket packaging, and carton packaging began to appear in the circulation link. The carton packaging range is getting larger and larger, the development is getting faster and faster, and soon occupies the fruit circulation link, which is then applied to the fruit picking and sorting link.
In the 1990s, fruit baskets could no longer be seen in the fruit circulation link, and all of them were packed in cartons. The weight of the carton packaged fruit is flexible, and the size of the box is made according to the needs of the market, and a box of 10 to 20 kg can be used. Only a very small number of fruit baskets are used exclusively for picking, generally using a plastic bag as a fixed protective layer, but it is different from the previous fruit baskets and is only recycled during the harvesting process. Later, the fruit basket was rarely seen in the picking process, and it was replaced by a new type of double-concave carton. Even the defective fruits that cannot be marketed are served in plastic bags.
The wood basket is slightly different from the fruit basket, and the preparation method of the two is not exactly the same. The volume of the firewood basket is larger, generally more than three times that of the fruit basket, and the best purple locust and thorn and mulberry strips are used, the structure is relatively strong, and the workmanship is relatively delicate. The weaving is handled in the same way as fruit baskets. The bottom of the basket is square, with a side length of more than 40 cm; the upper mouth is a rounded square with a side length of about 60 cm; the height of the basket is about 70 cm, and the thicker weft strip is broken and used. The warp weft bars at the bottom of the woven basket are horizontal and vertical, and after reaching the size, they are turned up and tied at the top, all of which are used as the warp strips of the basket; The upper and lower weft strips of the basket are dense, follow-up weaving, and there are two wear belts in the middle, and the three empty ones are honeycomb-shaped woven flowers. The final closure is basically the same as the fruit basket.
Two straps must be tied to one side of the basket, which are used to put on the shoulders of the owner; On the side opposite the strap is a long rope, usually a "V" shaped tie, which is used to tie firewood that is commonly known as "hat" high above the mouth of the basket. The firewood basket is used by the owner for a long time, and when it meets a good owner, it can be used continuously for several years.
One of the tools that support the firewood basket is the bamboo rake. The main body of the bamboo rake is woven with bamboo skin and consists of a rake head and a rake rod. The rakes were all foreign goods coming in from the south. The main body is an irregular rectangle with a front width and a narrow back, more than 30 cm wide and more than 40 cm long; the rake head has two parts, the rake palm is used to fix the rake; the front end of the rake is a "J" shaped bend, generally 8 to 10 teeth. The use of bamboo rakes is that the owner faces the rake head, holds the rake rod in both hands, and pulls backwards one by one. It is suitable for collecting relatively light firewood such as leaves and bean leaves.
Another companion tool to the wood basket is the iron rake. The main body of the iron rake is made of wire and small wooden grooves, which are also composed of rakes and rake rods. The rakes are all from the local area, some people make their own use, some people go to the market to buy. The shape and size of the rake head are similar to those of the bamboo rake, the rake palm is relatively simple, and the small holes in the upper and lower wooden grooves fix the rake teeth; The front end of the rake is also a "J" shaped bend, generally 10 to 12 teeth. Iron rakes are used in the same way as bamboo rakes. It is suitable for collecting weeds, grass roots, etc. with slightly linked firewood.
Another companion tool of the wood basket is the large rake. The large rake is large, and the main body is made of several steel wires that are long enough, thick enough and have good elasticity, and two wooden grooves. The whole is composed of a rake, a rake rod and a drawstring, and a rolling stick (1). Most of the rakes are made by the owner himself, and it is the beloved object of the owner. The rake head is generally 80 cm long and 50 cm wide, and is fixed by small holes in the upper and lower wooden grooves; the front of the rake is also a "J" shaped bend, generally 14 to 16 teeth. The activity space of the large rake is large, suitable for holding firewood grass on the wide barren mountain, its operation method is completely different from the bamboo rake and the iron rake, which is to carry the rake on the shoulder and support it backwards with one hand, and hold the rolling stick with the other hand, tie the drawstring to the waist, and pull forward with its back to the rake; Encounter a standing weed, shake off the rolling stick and pull it down, and then be picked up by the rakes behind you; The raised firewood grass is worn by the rake at any time, and when it is worn to the top of the rake, it is considered a rake, and five or six rakes can fill the firewood basket. After the firewood and grass that continued to be gathered were unloaded, they were to be laid into a pavement and neatly tied to the top of the mouth of the firewood basket, and the "hat" was scattered out of the basket, more than the inside of the basket. The firewood raised by the big rake is clean and neat, and it is a good firewood, and it can also be used as roughage for cultivated animals.
I have been dealing with wood baskets, fruit baskets and various rakes for many years, and there are many stories worth remembering. When I was a child, I went to choose Di Jiagou and saw Su Yin and Su Xing's two cousins using a big rake to hold firewood, and I also followed the comparison, from where I learned to pull rakes, throw roll sticks, unload rakes, lay shops, bundle hats, lock rope hooks, twist tree strips, and bundle firewood, and I did not do these tasks in my future household chores.
As a production tool, the fruit basket and its supporting tools are threaded with needles, and they are replaced by cartons and their accessories with nails and seals, which is the progress of the market, and since then the fruit has a real sense of packaging. As a civilian living tool, the firewood basket and its supporting tools bamboo rake, iron rake, and large rake have disappeared because of changes in civilian fuels, which indicates the improvement of residents' living standards, and people no longer use leaves and weeds for heating and cooking.
【Definition】
(1) "Rolling sticks" are homemade grass beating tools made by local farmers. It is made of a steel wire and a wooden handle, and the front end is bent to break the standing thatch and fall to the ground for the rake to collect.
[About the author] Xiao Zhong, born in 1952, is a native of Qianwei Town, Suizhong County. After leaving school in 1968, he worked as a farmer, carpenter, temporary worker, and workshop leader, and later served as a forestry financial accountant, a forest farm manager, a fruit distribution manager, a forest defense station manager, and a person in charge of a social insurance institution. Hobbies include literature and sports. In 2013, he retired as the director of the Suizhong County Social Insurance Administration.