BOARD OF HORTICUL TURE 165 



principal article of commerce of the Indians of this vicinity was salmon, the fact 

 that crauherries were seen by the great pathfinders at Wishrau seems to prove 

 that this fruit was a factor of some importance in the primitive commerce of 

 the natives. 



After the settlement of Clatsop Plains l)y Americans, while cranberries were 

 picked in the nearl)y marshes and sent to California markets, there was a ready 

 demand for this fruit in our neighhoring state. The marshes were considered one 

 great common, and whosoever wanted cranberries helped himself. The develop- 

 ment of the industry in Cape Cod and the improvement of the quality of the 

 eastern pack worked a hardslaip on the primitive methods used by Coast cran- 

 berry pickers and shippers, and a trade which had been established with Cali- 

 fornia was lost to the East. 



The real Impetus to the cranberry industry in this section came about 1910 ; at 

 this time an SO-acre marsh was set out to vines at Seaview, Washington. From 

 Cape Cod came H. M. Williams, a descendant of an old Massachusetts cranberry 

 family, and under his direction about 200 acres of cranberry marsh was set out, 

 near Ilwaco, Washington. In 1911, C. N. Bennett and associates began Operations 

 for the construction of a good-sized bog in Clatsop County, Oregon. This venture 

 was under the direction of D. M. Rezin, a former Wisconsin cranberry grower. 

 Rezin left the Wisconsin country because of the uncertainty of its crops. He first 

 settled in the Coos Bay, Oregon region, where his marsh adjoined that of McFar- 

 lin, and, during the later years of McFarlin's life, Rezin managed the McFarlin 

 marsh. The construction of the Coos Bay railroad cut the Rezin marsh into 

 bits, so Mr. Rezin came to Clatsop County and engaged in the cranberry industry 

 here, where he is now busily occupied. 



I will speak more particularly of the culture of this little berry in Clatsop 

 County, inasmuch as it is in Oregon. The principal tract of bog land in Clatsop 

 County lies along the right of way of S. P. & S. railway, about 11 miles south of 

 Astoria. It extends to the eastward about a quarter of a mile, being bound on 

 that side of Cullaby Lake and Cullaby Creek. The soll is a deep peat bog ; wild 

 cranberries grow therein in profusion. About 15 years ago, Clark Carnahan built 

 Cullaby Ditch. connecting the waters of Cullaby Lake with the Skipanon, a tribu- 

 tary of the Columbia. The pvirpose of this construction was to bring logs from 

 the Cullaby Lake district to the mills of the Columbia River. The cutting of this 

 district drained the marsh lands, and they were later used for pasturage. Nothing 

 was done in the way of cranberry development until C. N. Bennett came into 

 the field. 



All conditions seem to be met here. The mouth of the Columliia is one of the 

 greatest frost-free zones in the world. We have a long growing season and a 

 generous rainfall, combined with bright. sunny and warm days in summer ; no 

 real hot days come to this section. All economic plants show preference as to 

 general conditions as, for instance, soll, climate, etc. None is more exacting in 

 this respect than the cranberry. Given ideal conditions, it thrives and yields 

 bountifully, but under less favorable conditions it will not reward the grower 

 for his trouble; certainly not for his expense. 



The home of the cranberry is generally regarded as Cape Cod, Massachusetts. 

 It is from this district that most of the ideas concerning the cultivation of cran- 

 berries originated. It may interest you to know that the leading authority on 

 cranberries in that state and, for that matter, in the United States, Dr. H. J. 

 Franklin, in a bulletin of the Massachusetts Agricultural College, states that in 

 but one place in the Fnited States is the Cape Cod production of cranberries 

 exceeded, and that section is the district at the mouth of tlie Columbia River. 

 The average yield for an acre of cranberries in Massachusetts, according to Dr. 

 Franklin, is 30 barreis. The yield in Clatsop County for 1918 was in excess of 

 3.000 barreis, and the producing acreage less than 100. The first crop in this 

 county already equals the crop per acre at Cape Cod. 



