8 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 332 



SIZE OF CRANBERRY-BOG HOLDINGS 



The cultivated Massachusetts bogs range in size from several rods to 235 

 acres. One of the latter size on Nantucket is the largest As a rule, bogs of 

 20 acres or less are more profitable than larger ones if they have satisfactory 

 flowage facilities. Some bogs that are a unit in formation are divided into 

 several parcels as to ownership and operation. Table 2 shows the number of 

 individual bog holdings of different sizes in each of the nine Massachusetts 

 counties in which cranberries were grown in 1924 and 1934. The information 

 concerning the holdings in 1924 was secured from the tax records of the various 

 towns and may be regarded as reliable for a general picture of the relative 

 importance of holdings of different sizes in the counties. There were 2,147 

 bog holdings in the State in 1924 and only 1,313 in 1934, a decrease of 38.8 

 percent. The average size of all the holdings was 6.5 acres in 1924 and 10.3 

 acres in 1934, an increase of 58.5 percent. In 1934, 45 percent of the holdings 

 contained less than 3 acres of land and over 80 percent were of less than 10 

 acres. The 95 holdings of 25 or more acres in 1934 comprised over 58 percent 

 of the entire cranberry acreage of the State, while the 595 holdings of less 

 chan 3 acres made up less than 6 percent of the total. 



All this indicates that the ownership of a large part of the bog acreage is 

 concentrated in relatively few hands and that the tendency in this direction 

 is continuing. 



FLOWAGE 



The first classification of cranberry-bog acreage by types of flowage protec- 

 tion was that made in the survey of 1924 (see Table 3). The report of that 

 survey 4 states that "Cranberry bogs are classified as dry bogs, bogs having 

 winter flowage, bogs having winter flowage and one spring flowage, bogs having 

 winter flowage and two spring flowages, and bogs having full flowage pro- 

 tection." This classification was continued in the 1934 survey. 



As the name indicates, a dry bog is one not flooded at any season of the 

 year. A bog having winter flowage is one covered with water during the 

 winter. The water may be flowed on by pumping or by gravity from a reser- 

 voir, pond, or stream, or may be supplied by rains and snows. In Barnstable 

 County, most of the bogs with winter flowage depend on precipitation for 

 their water supply. Bogs with winter flowage and one or two spring flowages 

 not only have protection against winterkilling, but also have some protection 

 against spring frosts. Bogs with full flowage protection can be flooded at any 

 time, water being available to cover the bog in winter, to protect the new 

 growth from the frosts of spring and the berries from fall frosts, and to control 

 insect infestations. 



Table 3 shows that from 1924 to 1934 dry-bog acreage in the State was 

 reduced more than a half and acreage with winter flowage almost a third. 

 Bog acreage with winter and one spring flowage, on the other hand, more than 

 doubled; and that with winter and two spring flowages increased more than 

 five and a half times. Full-flowage bog also increased. Cranberry growers 

 have made outstanding progress in improving flowage facilities during the last 

 ten years. 



The distribution by towns of the acreage with full flowage protection in 

 1934 is shown on the map in Figure 3. Table 16 (in the appendix) gives the 



* Cranberry Acreage and Production in Massachusetts, by the New England Crop Reporting 

 Service and the Massachusetts Department of Agriculture, 1925. 



