WEATHER IN CRANBERRY CULTURE 



73 



The Margin between "Good" and "Poor" Keeping Quality 



In comparing the results of actual counts of the lots held in storage (Table 2) 

 with the general quality "appraisal" (Table 3), it should be remembered that 

 these storage lots represent but a very small fraction of the bogs of the area. 

 Also that the margin between "good" and "poor" crops is usually very narrow. 

 There is always some rot. On the other hand, during even the worst years a 

 nuijority of the berries are sound at marketing time. 



The condition here is somewhat comparable to atmospheric or soil tempera- 

 tures — a difference of 2 or 3 degrees in a\erage daily temperature means a great 

 difference in the weather for the year. What actually happens, of course, in 

 years of poor keeping quality is that rot develops to a dangerous extent in some 

 lots of fruit which in other years are usually sound. Of course, in such excep- 

 tional years as 1931 and 1933, the amount of rot is decidedly greater than in 

 ordinary crops of poor quality. The fact remains, however, that the margin 

 between "poor" and "good" quality is often a narrow one. 



Table 3. — Size and Keeping Quality of Cranberry Crop of Massachusetts, 

 With Temperature Summations and Number of Days with Rain. 



* Temperature summations above 50° F. for East Wareham, Massachusetts, 

 t Number of days with .01 inch or more precipitation at the Cranberry Station, East Wareham 

 Massachusetts. ' 



The Trend toward Better Handling of Fruit 



One other factor should be taken into consideration in connection with the 

 estimates of keeping quality during the past years. Throughout the period under 

 review, there has been a constant, if somewhat uneven, trend toward better 

 handling of fruit. Among the most important changes which have occurred 

 during this period may be mentioned the general use of trucks in hauling cran- 

 berries, both from the bog to the screenhouse and from the screenhouse to the 



