116 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 160. 



Miscellaneous. 



After most of the cranberry crop had been gathered, the fallen berries 

 were picked up from under the vines on a large number of measured plots 

 on the station bog and other bogs in the vicinity, to determine how much 

 of the fruit was lost in different methods of harvesting. The loss ranged 

 from an average of about 10 per cent, where the scoops were handled 

 slowly and carefully to an extreme loss of over 25 per cent, where bogs 

 with heavy crops were scooped hurriedly. The general conclusion ar- 

 rived at from this investigation was that with low prices such as obtained 

 this year, especially with the early berries, it is advisable to scoop rapidly 

 on bogs with light or medium crops. Under the normal price conditions 

 of previous years, however, it would pay, with heavy or medium crops, 

 to pick slowly and carefully, prevention of waste being much more im- 

 portant than the keeping down of the labor expense of picking. It would 

 sometimes pay, under such conditions, to spend as much as 80 cents a 

 barrel on "Early Blacks" and $1 a barrel on "Late Howes" for careful 

 scooping. Most of the berries dropped in scooping seem to be knocked 

 off by the tips of the teeth of the scoop. For this reason, a scoop with 

 teeth having rounded and flattened ends would probably lose less berries 

 than one with pointed teeth. 



This year of low prices has been generally discouraging to the cran- 

 berry growers. It Avill undoubtedly, however, benefit those interested 

 in the industry to some extent by tending to curtail the planting of new 

 bogs in the immediate future. Such prices may not prevail again for 

 many years, for, as is generally reahzed, this year's conditions were very 

 exceptional in many ways. If the time ever comes when very low prices 

 are the rule year after year, the situation will not be hopeless, for, as in 

 every other business, changes in methods will necessarilj'- accompany 

 changes in conditions. With low prices the rule, no attempt probably 

 would be made by most growers to combat the various pests by methods 

 now employed. The fruit worm, flowed-bog fireworm, tip worm and 

 various other insects which occasionally become troublesome would be 

 entirely controlled by holding the winter flowage very late (perhaps until 

 nearly the 1st of July) every other year (or possibly every third year). 

 Though the crop would be entirely lost in the year of late holding, its loss 

 would be largely offset by the almost entire elimination of expense, and 

 the crop of the following year, being free from the most commonly trouble- 

 some pests, and having behind it the strength of vines not weakened by 

 the drain of a crop the year before, would give the best returns possible. 

 The average quantity of berries produced yearly would perhaps not be 

 as great as that obtained by present methods, but even with low prices 

 the profits might not be seriously diminished, since a considerable reduc- 

 tion in expenses would be brought about by such management. 



Cranberry growers frequently desire to know how high a temperature 

 the water of June reflowage can have without doing serious damage to 



