CRANBERRY GROWING 



location gives it an average freight advantage in the delivery of fruit to 

 the markets of the country as a whole; its Searls variety^, partly because 

 of the large berries, is more productive than any other cranberry variety 

 largeh' grown; the crop there is harvested more completely and with 

 less injury to the vines than elsewhere by water-scooping''. The lack of 

 acidity in many of the marshes in parts of Wisconsin is probably a limit- 

 ing factor there. (N. E. Stevens). 



Cranberries are a luxury but are in such general use that they tend to 

 be a necessity. The market for them has kept pace with their produc- 

 tion, and prices for good fruit are usually satisfactory. The average 

 season price per barrel has ranged from $6.30 to $13.40 in the last several 

 years. Some growers fear the supply of cranberries may sometime exceed 



the demand. This may come to pass 

 temporarily, but important new uses 

 are being found for this fruit and the 

 market for it is being largely extend- 

 ed and stabilized by canning. More- 

 over, the effective producing cran- 

 berry acreage of the country is less 

 now than it was twenty-five years 

 ago. Good cranberry bogs will, there- 

 fore, be attractive investments for 

 some time to come. Though the 

 cranberry acreage of this State is 

 soniewliat less than formerly, its pro- 

 duction has very noticeably in- 

 creased, probably largely because of 

 reduction of losses by insects and 

 frosts. 



THE CRANBERRY PLANT 



Hie cranberry plant is a trailing 

 vine witli many upright branches and 

 roots along it (Fig. 2). Both the run- 

 tiers and the uprights have leaves, 

 but only the latter bear fruit. The 

 leaves are evergreen but turn brown- 

 isii in winter. The vines make a mat 

 all over the surface of a cultivated 

 bog (Fig. 31 B). They blossom in 

 late June and early July, and the 

 fruit ripens in September and Oc- 

 tober. Tlie flowers (Fig. 3) depend 

 mostly on insects for pollination, but 

 wild bees are so plentiful that it 

 probably seldom pays to keep bees 

 for this purpose. The set of fruit is 

 not affected by night coolness short 

 of frost during the bloom. 



Fig. 3. 



Flower Buds and Flowers. 



* Searls, also called Searls Jumbo, is tlie main Wisconsin variety (p. 27). 

 ' Most of the Wisconsdn crop is gathered from the water of the partly Hooded bogs 

 tvith long-handled scoops. 



