278 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



the berries oflf from the bog and piling them up in boxes on 

 the upland where they may be taken away by team. An ideal 

 way to remove the berries from a bog is yet to be devised. 

 Hand barrows or stretchers are probably most commonly used, 

 and this method is fairly satisfactory, but it seems expensive. 

 Ordinary wheelbarrows are often used, both with and without 

 planks. The trouble of moving the planks, however, is con- 

 siderable, and if they are not used, the vines are likely to be 

 killed out more or less in paths by the constant rolling of the 

 wheelbarrows over them, for it is very difficult to keep the men 

 who are wheeling the berries from following paths. Probably 

 some form of hand truck might be devised which would give 

 better satisfaction than anything at present in use for this 

 purpose. 



As they are picked, the berries are dumped into bushel boxes 

 on the bog, the slats of the boxes having more or less space 

 between them to allow for a circulation of air through the 

 berries which they contain. As the scoops gather more or less 

 vines, these are dumped into the boxes with the berries, no 

 great pains being taken to clean them out. It is generally 

 supposed that the berries keep better in storage if a considerable 

 quantity of vines and chaff are allowed to remain in the boxes 

 with them, the idea being that the vines increase the possibili- 

 ties for air circulation. It seems very doubtful, however, 

 whether the presence of the vines has this supposed effect to 

 any considerable degree, and it is certain that no conclusive 

 tests have been made ^ which prove any such effect. Probably 

 this idea sprang from the fact that, after berries have been run 

 through the separator and screened they decay comparatively 

 rapidly in storage. This deterioration in keeping quality is, 

 however, evidently very largely due to the injury the berries 

 receive during those processes of cleaning. After harvesting, 

 the vines should all be raked hard in one direction with ordi- 

 nary hay rakes. This raking clears the bog of loose vines left 

 torn up by the scoops and it trains the vines that are left for 

 scooping the following year. 



