CRANBERRY 



CRANBERRY 



391 



for planting, but now cuttings are employed. These cut- 

 tings are 6- or 8-inch pieces of vigorous runners, with 

 the leaves on. They are thrust obliquely through the 

 sand, only an inch or two of the top remaining un- 

 covered. They are set about 14 inches apart each way. 

 In three or four years a full crop is obtained. The bogs 

 are kept clean by means of hand weeding. At Cape Cod, 

 it is estimated that the sum of $300 to $500 per acre is 

 required to fit and plant a bog. A good yield from a 

 bog in full bearing is 50 barrels to the acre ; but 200 

 barrels have been grown. 



In New Jersey, the general tendency is to omit the 

 sanding. The bogs are not cleared so carefully. The 

 plants are often set directly in 

 the earth bottom, after the heavy 

 turf is removed. The bogs— or 

 meadows, as they are usually 

 called— are not kept so scrupu- 

 lously clean. Itis thought 

 that a reasonable quan- 

 tity of grass prevents 

 scalding of 

 the berries. 

 If the vines 

 become too 



by the form of the berry,— the bell-shaped (Fig. 570), 

 the bugle-shaped (Fig. 571), and the cherry-shaped 

 (Fig. 572). There are many named varieties in each of 

 these classes, diitering in size, color, firmness, keeping 

 qualities, productiveness. These varieties have been 

 selected from plants which have appeared naturally in 

 the bogs. Some of them have been discovered in wild 

 bogs. The demands of the market, as respects varie- 

 ties, are constantly changing. In Massachusetts, the fol- 

 lowing varieties are now popular: Early Black, Howe, 

 Matthews, McFarlin. 



The Cranberry is now a staple article of 

 food in North America. " Turkey and Cran- 

 berry sauce" may be said to be the national 

 dish. The berries are used in great va- 

 riety of dishes. An effort has been made to 

 open an European market, and an agent 

 was sent abroad in 1893 for that purpose by 

 the American Cranberiy Trade Company. 

 The export trade has now assumed some 

 importance, and is growing. The approxi- 

 mate Cranberry crops for a series of years 

 are shown below, in bushels: 



571. Dennis Cranberry, 



Natural size. 

 Type of the Bugle Cranberries 



deep, they are mown or burned in order to 

 secure a fresh growth from the roots. 



The gathering of the crop is done preferably by 

 hand-picking, particularly in plantations which are 

 well cared for. In some cases the berries are raked 

 off with a steel garden rake, but many of them are 

 lost and bruised, and the vines may be injured. It 

 is said by some that the tearing out of the old and 

 large vines in the raking tends to renew the plants, 

 and this is undoubtedly true ; but there are better 

 ways of keeping the vines young and short, as by 

 sanding or mowing. In the East, raking is now 

 rarely employed, unless the crop is very poor or 

 prices very low; or unless hard frost is expected, 

 in which case the berries may be raked, the bog 

 flooded, and the berries caught at the flume. Some- 

 times the bog is flooded when hard frost is threatened 

 and the water is allowed to remain all winter, and 

 the berries are harvested in the spring ; but such 

 early flooding may injure the vines. The price paid 

 for the picking of Cranberries is usuallj' about 40 to 

 50 cts. a bushel. Three to four bushels is considered to 

 be an average day's picking. There are various devices 

 to facDitate the picking. On Cape Cod a popular im- 

 plement is the Lumbert picker (Fig. 569). The machine 

 is thrust into the vines, and the operater closes the lid 

 by bearing down with his thumb ; drawing it backward 

 pulls off the berries. Usually the pickers are "lined-off " 

 (Fig. 568) by cords stretched across the bog, thus limiting 

 each one to a particular area, which he is required to 

 pick clean. The berries are cleaned by running them 

 through a separator, by passing them over a screen, 

 by floating off the litter by dowsing them in water, and 

 by other means. Dowsing usually reduces the market 

 value. They are then marketed in barrels or crates. 



Of varieties there are three general types, determined 



572. Makepeace Cranberry. 

 Natural size. Type of tlie Cherry Cranberries. 



CEANBEEKY CBOPS, IN BUSHELS 



1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 



NewEngland 250,500 160,825 



NewJersey 128,700 157,014 



TheWest 113,430 143,186 



Totals 400,828 295,760 233,000, 492,630 461,025 



1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 



NewEngland.... 193,664 141,964 130,583 280,879 274,799 



NewJersey 78,507 118,524 124,648 198,125 234,2.54 



The West 50,000 135,507 24,783 264,432 31,396 



Totals 322,171 395,995 280,014 743,436 540,449 



