42 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 371 



however, must he lianchsorted. Women do this work, mostly on moving 

 belts (Fig. 38), in a well-Hghted and comfortably warm room which is 

 walled off from the cooler storage and packing rooms. The berries pass 

 through this sorting room too quickly to warm up much. Sorters are paid 

 25 cents an hour. 



It is best not to sort or pack the berries on wet days, for they collect 

 moisture in damp weather and are more likely to rot in transit if they are 

 packed moist. The fruit was formerly shipped mostly in barrels, but now 

 the quarter-barrel box is used almost entirely. The cranberry barrel con- 

 tains about 90 dry quarts, its dimensions being fixed by law. The con- 

 tainers must be shaken well and the berries heaped slightly and pressed 

 down in packing (Fig. 39) so that they may not come to market "slack- 

 packed." wSlack-packed berries are shunned by the trade because they lack 

 in quantity and their keeping quality is impaired by thrashing. 



MARKETING 



The fall opening price of cranberries ranges from $4.50 to $13.00 a l)arrel 

 according to conditions. The price sometimes has risen to over $30 a 

 barrel in the winter. 



Over half the Cape crop is sold through a co-operative, the New Eng- 

 land Cranberry Sales Company i". Other companies in Wisconsin and 

 New Jersey, affiliated with the New England company in the American 

 Cranberry Exchange!*, handle most of the berries from those states. This 

 organization is well managed and he'ps the trade greatly by extensive ad- 

 vertising and by watching the cranberry markets throughout the United 

 States and Canada and distributing the berries as they are needed, so pre- 

 venting gluts. It has central packing houses and experienced inspectors, 

 and the berries it handles are tested for keeping quality in incubators and 

 packed uniformly under different brands according to their varieties and 

 qualities. It esta1)lishes opening prices, basing them on careful studies of 

 conditions, and pools most of its fruit. It has fostered research wdiich 

 showed that cranberries have important healthful properties, and distrib- 

 utes selected cranberry recipes gratis. 



There are also a few independent distributing agencies, some of them 

 very efficient. Much of the fruit sold outside of the Sales Company goes 

 to commission men. Buyers for cash are around every year. 



PRESERVING 



Owing mainly to the enter]>rise and energy of the cranberry growers 

 directing the cooperative Cranl)err.\- Canners, Inc., the preserving of this 

 fruit has become a great industry ( iMg. 40). Nearly its whole develop- 

 ment has taken ])lace since ]')2.V Now almost a third of tiie croj) of the 

 country goes into cans as sauce or into bottles for beverages. Some of 

 the fruit is dried, but this excellent i-roducl has found oidy particular and 

 limited markets. .Most cranberries of doubtful keeping (|uality now gf) to 

 preservers, leaving only reliable stock for the fresh fruit trade. 



Cranberry Canners, inc., si)onsors a buyiuK jx-ol for the growers and 

 tid new uses for cranberries. 



lintains effective research 



"Office at Mi.l.llcl.orn. 

 "•Office at 90 WCsl Hk 



