320 Appendix. 



HARVESTING. 



In early days of cranberry culture harvesting was necessarily done by hand. 

 As the industry expanded, the increased demand for pickers rendered it necessary 

 that in order to hold the cost of production within reasonable bounds some 

 mechanical device be found which would lessen the cost of harvesting by increas- 

 ing the quantity an individual is able to pick. 



There is considerable prejudice among growers against the use of these har- 

 vesting devices because of some real or imagined injury to the bogs. This preju- 

 dice, however, seems to be disappearing ; at least the use of the harvesters 

 is each year becoming more general. 



Harvesting is paid for, as a rule, by the measure. Each person is furnished 

 with a rake and with pails or boxes in which to place the berries as picked. The 

 meadow is then laid off in sections or strips by stretching lines across it. Each 

 picker is assigned to a division. By this arrangement each one gets his share 

 both of heavily and sparsely fruited plants, and the grower is certain of getting 

 the product from all parts of the meadow. This has not been as satisfactorily 

 accomplished in any other way. After being picked the fruit is carried to store- 

 houses, where it is allowed to remain, until assorted, in the trays in which it 

 was placed at picking time. The trays are of various dimensions to suit the 

 fancy of the grower, but most of them hold about three measures (eighteen 

 quarts) of fruit each. 



ASSORTING. 



As the berries come from the tield there are many broken branches, leaves, 

 and defective fruits among them. To remove the leaves and branches, various 

 cleaning devices similar to the fanning mills used for cleaning grain have been 

 invented. After having been winnowed in this fashion the fruit is spread upon 

 assortng racks. Operators sitting upon either side of this device look over the 

 berries in much the same manner as beans are looked over in hand picking. 

 From the assorting table the berries go into barrels, a few only being crated. 



STORING. 



Cranberries as they come from the field are immediately placed in storage 

 buildings upon the plantation. It is the prevailing practice to hold the fruit in the 

 storage houses at the bogs until the market is ready, which is from six weeks to 

 three months after harvest. No artificial cold is needed in the storage houses. 

 The only precaution necessary is to prevent the fruit from freezing, which fre- 

 quently requires the use of a little heat in the storage house. 



In early times it was thought necessary to pack the berries in casks and 

 cover them with water in order to preserve them for any length of time, but this 

 idea has been abandoned, and the fruit is for the most part stored in small open 

 boxes. 



MARKETING. 



The fruit, as cleaned, assorted, and barreled, usually in ventilated barrels, is 

 put on the market. The barrels are similar to those used for packing apples 

 for the domestic market, and are practically of the same size. In the retail stores 

 cranberries are more often found in bushel crates than in barrels. The crating 

 of the fruit is done by the middlemen, who act as distributing agents, rather 

 than by the producers. The dealers prefer that the growers pack the product 

 in barrels. 



PRICES. 



By an examination of the price lists of the New York market from 1870 

 to 1902 it is found that the prices of cranberries have varied widely in that 

 time. The lowest ranges of prices quoted were in April, 1879, when the berries 



