WEATHER IN CRAN'bERRY CULTURE 



81 



Mr. Griffith was already at work with tests designed to this end and Dr. Frank- 

 lin had also made tests by storing lots of cranberries in long glass tubes. The 

 unusually poor keeping quality of the crop in 1922 emphasized the need of such 

 work, and following these leads, the writer began testing series of samples of 

 cranberries gathered from different bogs in the Wareham-Carver area. 



The test was modified slightly from year to year and as the work progressed a 

 larger number of samples was included and the work carried later in the season. 

 As at present used, the incubator test is as follows: Pint samples of sound cran- 

 berries are placed in open cartons and held in an incubator for one week. During the 

 first two weeks in September the incubator is held at 86°-88° F. (30°-31° C), dur- 

 ing the last two weeks in September at 81°-83° F. (27°-28° C), and after October 

 1 at 75°-77° F. (24°-25° C). The only test which has been followed up consistently 

 since the beginning of the work is that which has been made during the first and 

 second weeks of September on samples from a series of selected bogs in Wareham 

 and Carver. The results of this are given in Table 4. Figures in this table are, 

 in almost all cases, an average of the two tests, one made the first and one made 

 the second week in September. These figures show the range in percentage of 

 decay which has actually occurred during thirteen years. 



Table 4. — Results of Incubator Tests at East Wareham, Mass., During 



THE First Two Weeks of September. 



Tests lasted for one week; temperature 30°-31° C. (86°-88° F.). 



