No. 4.] CRANBERRY GROWING. 275 



insect will not get in, as a rule, on bogs which cannot be re- 

 flowed, if they are kept well sanded. It seems to like to work 

 in the rubbish of an unsanded bog in thick vines. If a serious 

 infestation is already present, resanding evenly with a full inch 

 of sand either in the fall or in the spring before the first of June 

 is usually sufficient to smother the insect so that the moths will 

 not emerge. 



The dry bog fireworm is easily controlled by a single spraying 

 with arsenate of lead, applied between the 4th and 10th of July. 

 On the Cape this insect seriously affects only such bogs as are 

 not winter flowed. 



Harvesting. 



In average seasons the cranberry harvest begins during the 

 last week in August and continues until the crop is entirely 

 gathered. The length of the picking season varies greatly in 

 different years, according to the weather conditions. Cran- 

 berries should be picked only in dry weather. It will not do 

 to begin picking in the morning until the vines have thoroughly 

 dried off, and the day's picking must be finished before the 

 dampness of the very late afternoon begins to gather. Frosty 

 nights, as well as wet weather, are a hindrance in the picking 

 season, for they compel the flooding of unpicked areas and, as 

 a rule, no picking can be done on the day following flooding. 

 Cranberries were originally picked entirely by hand, and quite 

 an army of pickers was needed to gather the crop. With the 

 acreage at present under cultivation it would be practically 

 impossible to gather the entire crop by hand on account of 

 scarcity of help. There is, however, considerable hand picking 

 still done, especially by the small growers. If berries are picked 

 carefully by hand, this method probably causes the least possi- 

 ble injury to the vines. It is, however, a very expensive and 

 probably unwise method to follow, except, perhaps, on the thin 

 vines of new plantings, the berries of which are likely to be 

 tender and should be injured as little as possible. 



Most of the crop on Cape Cod is, at present, picked with 

 rakes, or scoops as they are more commonly called. Scooping 

 is also largely practiced in Wisconsin. Hand picking, however, 

 is the rule in New Jersey. With average crops, berries may be 

 gathered with scoops at an average expense of from 40 to 50 



