THE CRANBERRY INDUSTRY 5 



nearly stationary. 



The State totals show the net result of the changes in acreage in the different 

 counties in the various periods. This total was 9,372 acres in 1895 and had 

 increased to 13,027 acres by 1905, but only about a thousand acres were added 

 from 1905 to 1915. This marked the high point of acreage expansion for the 

 State. From 1915 to 1934 the acreage declined slightly, the net change being 

 less than 500 acres. 



To summarize: Barnstable County reached its maximum acreage in 1905 

 and then declined steadily until now, the decline being most rapid during the 

 last ten years. The trend of acreage in Plymouth County, on the other hand, 

 has been steadily upward, reaching a record high of 9,091 acres in 1934. The 

 other counties, as a unit, have followed a downward trend and in 1934 had 

 less than one-half of their peak acreage of 1895. The acreage of the State 

 increased continuously till 1915. Since then there has been a small but steady 

 decrease. Figure 1 shows the trend of Massachusetts cranberry acreage since 

 1885. The distribution of bog acreage in 1934 by towns is shown in Figure 2. 



In 1895, Barnstable County had 34.7 percent of the total cranberry acreage 

 of the State. By 1905 this had increased to 35.9 percent, but it was down to 

 31.4 in 1915, 31.2 in 1924, and 25.7 percent in 1934. Plymouth County had 

 40.2 percent of the total acreage in 1895, and this percentage increased sub- 

 stantially in each period thereafter, except the period ending in 1924 when 

 the increase was only 0.7 percent. It had 66.6 percent of the total acreage in 

 1934. The other counties had 25.1 percent of the total acreage in 1895, but 

 only 16.2 in 1905, 7.5 in 1915, and about the same since then. 



These figures might suggest that the industry in this State has stood still, 

 or even retrograded, since 1916. This is far from the case as will be seen 

 later, but its more recent progress has been along other lines than acreage 

 expansion. 



POTENTIAL CRANBERRY ACREAGE IN MASSACHUSETTS 



Cranberries are grown on peat or muck land. Such soil is an accumulation 

 of organic vegetable matter in varying states of decomposition mixed with 

 mineral material brought in by winds and overflowing water. It ranges from 

 a few inches to many feet in depth and is dark colored. The present developed 

 cranberry area of 13,644 acres in the State is less than 12 percent of the land 

 classified as muck soil in the soil surveys of Barnstable, Plymouth, Norfolk, 

 and Bristol Counties. 3 The areas of bog lands producing cranberries in these 

 counties, and of lands classified as muck by the soil surveys, are as follows: 



County Muck Land Cranberry Bogs 



Acres Acres 



Barnstable 3,200 3,500 



Bristol 24,000 464 



Norfolk 25,216 74 



Plymouth 67,968 9,091 



In Barnstable County the acreage of bogs is greater than that of muck lands. 

 Cranberries are being grown there on 300 acres or more of soil not of the best 

 bog type. A considerable increase in the cranberry acreage in Barnstable 



3 Soil Survey of Plymouth County, Massachusetts. Bureau of Soils, United States Department 

 of Agriculture, December 12, 1912. 



Soil Survey of Norfolk, Bristol, and Barnstable Counties, Massachusetts. Massachusetts De- 

 partment of Agriculture and Bureau of Soils, United States Department of Agriculture, 1924. 



