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3802 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
CRANBERRY CULTURE. 
(Facts gathered by U. S. Census Bureau.) 
Although cranberry growing is old, this is the first attempt made by the 
government to gather special and complete statistics in relation to it. : 
The wild cranberry (or craneberry) grew in natural bogs only. The 
best bogs are laurel, maple, cedar, tamarack, aspen and balsam swamps. 
Cultivation consists in clearing away all growth except the vines and in 
sanding and preparing to flood. The bog is flooded to protect the fruit from 
frosts and to kill fire worms or other parasites. Among the latter are yel- 
low-headed and black-headed fruit worms, which, if left unchecked, are liable 
to destroy the entire crop. 
Growers remove weeds, add fertilizers, reflood from time to time and 
spray the vines to kill moths, larvae, tip worms, scale, etc. Where suitable 
sand is available, all really first-class bogs are sanded regardless of whether 
or not they can be flooded. This renders cultivation and picking easier and 
makes the fruit brighter and cleaner. 
In some sections, where flooding is not accomplished by natural fresh- 
ets or the use of artificial dams and sluices, powerful pumping works have 
been erected. When the weather bureau reports an impending freeze, the 
pumps are put to work and the bog is covered with water in a few hours, 
and the crop saved. 
There are some dry cranberry fields, artificially planted; but, while pro- 
ductive, they can not be so certainly protected as the floodable bogs. 
The number of commercial growers in the United States is over two 
thousand. They are found mainly in the states of Massachusetts, New Jer- ° 
sey, Maine, Connecticut, Michigan and Wisconsin; but Minnesota, Oregon, 
Rhode Island, Washington and New York report bogs. The number in 
Michigan and Wisconsin is on the increase despite a temporary set-back 
by forest fires. 
A new field or bog is made by clipping and thrusting into the earth 
sprouts from vines not more than three years old. 
There are many varieties of cranberries. Over 100 of them, of good 
keeping and shipping qualities, were raised at the State Experiment Sta- 
tion at Madison, Wisconsin, in 1898, and exhibited at the succeeding cran- 
berry convention. The United States consular officers report about an equal 
number in the Canadian provinces, the best of which are being transplanted 
to this country. 
The methods of cultivating, picking, screening or grading and marketing 
cranberries are practically the same everywhere, and more nearly uniform 
than those of any other branch of agricultural production that covers widely 
separated areas. 
The growers are well organized, the national association having its 
headquarters at Trenton, New Jersey, and local organizations existing in 
Massachusetts and possibly elsewhere. They keep a record of acreage and 
production and gather for their own use certain annual statistics. They also 
are attempting to secure the adoption and common use of barrels and crates 
of uniform size, sanctioned by law. What is known as the “western bar- 
rel,” so fixed by law in Wisconsin, is 25% inches high; 16 inches in diameter 
at the heads and 18 inches in diameter at the bilge, inside measure, and 
must be officially branded, under severe penalties for failure. 
