REPORT OF THE CRANBERRY SUBSTATION, 



137 



Column 4 of Table 16 gives the percentages of berries showing decaj^ 

 two weeks after the fruit was picked. IMost of this rot was surely present 

 when the berries came from the bog. The fertilizer evidently greatly 

 increased the rotting on the vines. The last column of this table shows 

 that the fertilizer also greatly harmed the keeping quality of the fruit. 

 The berries from only a part of the plots were examined, as this was all 

 that seemed necessary to bring out the facts. 



The last column of Table 17 shows the condition of the fruit two weeks 

 after it was picked in 1918. The percentages for some reason fail to tell 

 so marked a story as those of 1917. The figures in the fourth column of 

 this table were obtained by multiplying for each plot the minutes con- 

 sumed in picking by the number of pickers. They therefore show the 

 relative cost of harvesting the various plots. This expense was much 

 greater with the treated areas than with the checks. 



The treated and check areas yielded at about the same rate in 1917, 

 but the checks produced less in 1918. 



In both 1917 and 1918 the fertilized plots developed a considerable 

 gi'owth of weeds, especially of fireweed {Erechtites hieracifolia Raf.) and 

 beggar-ticks (Bidens frondosa L.), not much found elsewhere on the bog. 



The fruit of the plot treated with lime decayed more than that of any 

 other plot in both 1917 and 1918, as it had in the three previous years. 

 Table 18 shows the results with two new plots to which slaked lime at the 

 rate of 1 ton per acre was applied on June 13. The berries were of the 

 Early Black variety, and 8 bushels from each plot and each check were 

 examined. On the whole, the fruit from these limed areas rotted more 

 than that from the checks. This result, as far as it goes, accords with 

 that of fertilizer plot 11. 



Table 19 gives the yields of the station fertilizer plots by j'ears and the 

 total yields since they were started. Considering all the experience with 

 these plots, it seems that the advantage of any slight increase in yield 

 that may have been caused by the fertilizers has been much more than 

 balanced by the cost of the treatment, the deterioration in the quality of 

 the fruit, the greater cost of picking due to the increased vine growth, 

 and the incursion of weeds. 



