THE CRANBERRY INDUSTRY IN MASSACHUSETTS! 



By G. D. Stevens, H. J. Franklin, C. I. Gunness and V. G. Peterson 2 



INTRODUCTION 



An average of about 555,000 barrels of cranberries was produced annually 

 in the United States during the last twenty years (1915-1934 inclusive). 

 Massachusetts produced an average of 356,000 barrels or about 64 percent of 

 the entire crop during this period. The rest of the crop came mainly from 

 New Jersey and Wisconsin and a small quantity from Washington and Oregon. 



The cranberry which is native to the northeastern United States was first 

 cultivated at North Dennis, Massachusetts, between 1810 and 1820; but it 

 was not until about 1850 that enough experience was accumulated to grow 

 this crop commercially. Cranberries are (1935) and have been for many years 

 the leading export crop of the State and are shipped to all parts of the United 

 States and Canada. The total income from cranberry production in Massa- 

 chusetts in recent years has been exceeded only by that of dairying, poultry 

 raising, and vegetable growing. The total value of the cranberry crop aver- 

 aged $4,056,000 from 1925 to 1934, this average being greater than that of 

 any other Massachusetts crop except hay. In 1934 the cranberry crop was 

 valued at $3,277,000, a total considerably in excess of the combined value of 

 the commercial apple and potato crops of Massachusetts. The value of the 

 crop in 1934 was about 12 percent greater than that of the commercial apple 

 crop of all New England. 



As cranberries are a perishable product with a rather brief marketing season, 

 it is important that those who grow and market cranberries should have re- 

 liable estimates of the size of the crop if it is to be sold to the best advantage. 

 Such estimates are essential to the development of sound advertising and 

 price policies. To provide an adequate basis for estimating the crop, special 

 surveys of acreage, management, and production, and of disposal of the fruit 

 must be made from time to time, for it has been found that census data and 

 assessors' reports do not furnish adequate information. The last previous 

 general survey of the industry was made in 1924. 



As a basis for the detailed survey, lists of owners were secured from the 

 assessors' records of the various towns, on file in the Massachusetts Depart- 

 ment of Corporations and Taxation. The enumerators then visited owners or 



1 The survey on which a large part of this study is based was organized in March 1934, as a 

 part of the National Recovery Research Project (ERA S-G-5 and CWA 6604-5) under the direc- 

 tion of the Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment Station in cooperation with the New England 

 Crop Reporting Service, which is a joint agency of the United States Department of Agiiculture, 

 and the Massachusetts Department of Agriculture. The field work was begun in March 1934, 

 under the supervision of V. A. Sanders who remained with the project only a short time, and was 

 completed in August 1934, under the direction of V. C. Peterson, Junior Statistician, assisted by 

 E. A. Richmond. 



2 This project was initiated and brought to completion by C. D. Stevens, Federal Statistician 

 in charge of the New England Crop Reporting Service, Division of Crop and Livestock Estimates, 

 Bureau of Agricultural Economics, United States Department of Agriculture, and Dr. H. J. 

 Franklin, in charge of the Cranberry Station of the Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment Sta- 

 tion. The analysis of data on pumping equipment is the contribution of C. I. Gunness, Professor 

 of Agricultural Engineering, Massachusetts State College. The assistance of Asst. Research 

 Professor R. L. Mighell in securing the financing of this project as a part of the Emergency Relief 

 Administration and Civil Works Administration programs for employment is hereby acknowledged. 



H. P. Plunkett, in charge of personnel, secured an excellent force of about thirty enumerators 

 and clerks to carry on the details of the project. 



