Page 8 



BETTER FRUIT 



An illustration showing in the foreground a newly plniited cranberry bog. 



sop County. The climatic conditions 

 were identical, and in addition to the 

 natural advantages of the district imme- 

 diately to its north, the Cullaby Lake 

 district in Clatsop County was favored 

 with a bountiful water supply, as well 

 as having the further advantage of 

 splendid rail transportation. At length 

 the Oregon spirit became aroused, and 

 cranberry planting began in Clatsop 

 County in real earnest. To C. N. Ben- 

 nett, a civil engineer, properly belongs 

 the credit of being its chief sponsor. 

 Bennett had been engaged in making 

 a complete survey of the industrial, 

 agricultural and horticultural possibili- 

 ties of Clatsop County and his trained 

 mind immediately recognized the latent 

 possibilities of a cranberry industry in 

 Oregon. Associating himself with some 

 of the business men in Astoria, cran- 

 berry development was begun in the 

 Cullaby Lake district of Clatsop County. 



The wild marsh selected by Bennett 

 was the tract lying directly east of the 

 right of way of the main line of the 

 S. P. & S. Ry., and bounded on the east 

 side by the waters of Cullaby Lake, 

 Cullaby Creek and Cullaby Canal. The 

 tract is just one mile from the Pacific 

 Ocean and lies but eleven miles from 

 Astoria by railroad. No cranberries 

 had ever been commercially grown in 

 this district. Wild cranberries abound- 

 ed in this region. They were of excel- 

 lent flavor and grew profusely. These 

 wild cranberries were much esteemed 

 by the natives. Lewis and Clark in 

 their Memoirs mention cranberries as 

 one of the articles of food which they 

 traded for with the Indians of this sec- 

 tion. The site of their camp when they 

 wintered here in 180.5-06 is but a short 

 distance from one of the bogs of Clat- 

 sop County. The dinner bell calling 

 the pickers from their labors on this 

 bog, can be heard at the site of the 

 winter camp of these intrepid explorers. 



A few years previous to Bennett's dis- 

 covery of this section as a cranberry 

 district, a drainage canal had been dug 

 connecting the waters of Cullaby Lake 

 with Skipanon Creek, a tributary of the 

 Columbia River. The purpose of this 

 canal being to bring logs from the Cul- 

 laby Lake district to the mills of the 



Columbia River. The drainage of the 

 lands of the district was incidental. To 

 a prospective cranberry grower, the 

 district was at once made available for 

 development. The presence of Cullaby 

 Lake makes the district especially at- 

 tractive from the viewpoint of cran- 

 berry development. Today the lake 

 level is about eight feet lower than the 

 level of the marsh, thus providing suf- 

 ficient drainage at all times when 

 needed. Cullaby Lake is a body of fresh 

 water about two miles in length and 

 varying in width from one-fourth to 

 one-half mile. 



It is the intention of the growers to 

 use the waters of this lake by pumping 

 the same directly on their lands. After 

 the land has been flooded, the water 

 will run back into the lake through the 

 ditches which are used in flooding the 

 marsh. The water is thereby conserved 

 and can be used over and over again. It 

 is questionable whether there is such a 

 favorable location for a cranberry 

 marsh anywhere else in the United 

 States. 



The first planting of cranberries in 

 the Cullaby Lake district of Clatsop 

 County, was made in May, lOlL That 

 year a total of three acres were set out 

 to vines. Today there is a total of 129 

 acres in vines in this locality. The set- 

 ting out of an acre of cranberries is a 

 much more complicated matter than the 

 setting out of an acre of fruit trees. It is 

 first necessary to drain the wild marsh. 

 This in Clatsop County is quite inex- 

 pensive as ditches need only be cut to 

 Cullaby Lake. Next the marsh must be 

 cleared of all trees and brush, then the 

 turf must be scalped and removed, leav- 

 ing only the bare peat, which is covered 

 with a coating of sand to a depth of 

 about three or four inches. Planting 

 is the next proceeding, and for this pur- 

 pose vine cuttings are used which are 

 pressed into the peat through the sand 

 with a planting tool or dibble. The 

 usual distance between hills being ten 

 inches in this section. This makes over 

 sixty thousand hills to the acre. The 

 cost of this improvement varies. In- 

 cluding the land it should cost in Clat- 

 sop County about $1000 per acre. 



February, 1020 



Since the conclusion of the war a 

 larger development has been undertaken 

 in spite of the increased cost of labor. 

 The noteworthy point in connection 

 with this great development is that it is 

 being undertaken almost exclusively by 

 those who already have large holdings 

 in the industry. 



Fortunately all of those who are en- 

 gaged in the industry in the Cullaby 

 Lake region reside at the bogs or at 

 best a few miles away at Astoria. This 

 insures the bogs receiving the very best 

 attention. Cranberry culture is a 

 strictly horticultural venture and re- 

 quires close application. During the 

 period when the vines are coming into 

 bearing, the bogs must be kept free 

 from weeds, so that the plant can make 

 its best growth. The cranberry vine 

 has so far only been improved by se- 

 lection, and therefore retains all of the 

 vigor it had in its wild state, but nat- 

 urally thrives best when carefully 

 nurtured and kept free from weeds. 



The first real commercial pack of 

 cranberries from this district was har- 

 vested in 1918. In that year the total 

 yield was over 3000 barrels. At that 

 time, counting every acre set out to 

 vines there was an even 100 acres in 

 Clatsop County. This included many 

 acres too young to bear any fruit. Yet 

 taking them all into consideration the 

 average in consequence of this compu- 

 tation was in excess of 30 barrels to the 

 acre. This exceeds or at least equals 

 the average yield for Cape Cod, where 

 the average yield is placed at 30 bar- 

 rels to the acre. Records of 100 barrels 

 to the acre on the Pacific Coast are 

 com.'pon and have run as high as 250 

 barrels to the acre. 



Several different varieties of fruit 

 have been planted by Oregon growers. 

 All of these varieties having originally 

 been imported from eastern bogs. The 

 native berries being universally of the 

 smaller, uncommercial species. During 

 the early days of this country, these 

 small berries were picked by the resi- 

 dents of the district and shipped to va- 

 rious coast markets. The industry was 



M 



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How the cranberries are picked. 



