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September, 1916 
CRANBERRY NOTES 
By J. W. FITCH 
The Twenty Ninth Summer 
meeting proved to be a very 
interesting one. The crop on 
Mr. M. 0. Potter’s vines, at 
which place the meeting was 
held, looked very good though 
Mr. Potter said it was not as 
good as last year. The crop on 
the experiment station was good 
and things looked to be in good 
shape especially since Mr. Malde 
has had less work done than 
usual. The meeting after dinner 
in the Potter warehouse was 
given largely to the discussion 
of the future of the experiment 
station. Most of the leading 
growers expressing themselves, 
and all seemed to feel the neces- 
sity of continuing the work of 
the station and while some 
seemed to think that the fact 
that large crops had not been 
raised on the station, was the 
result of mismanagement. Most 
of the growers seemed to feel 
that no one under the same con- 
ditions would have done any 
better or as well as Mr. Malde. 
Owing to a rather inadequate 
water supply the vines on the 
station have been badly winter 
killed some seasons and the bad 
effects of this reaches over more 
than one season, and during 
frosts Mr. Malde has at times 
refrained from using water when 
he thought it was needed by the 
Gaynor Co. But it remained for 
Mr. Cranefield to hit the nail on 
the head when he showed clearly 
the difference between a station 
for research and a demonstra- 
tion station, this one being es- 
tablished for research it was not 
to be expected to be a profitable 
one in a commercial sense. In 
view of the fact that many of 
the growers favor putting the 
station on a self supporting 
basis as the one on Cape Cod is, 
the following extract from the 
Wareham Courier is interesting.” 
Unless the consent of the 
Gayner Cranberry Co. to renew 
the lease can be obtained the 
station will be moved, and a 
number of growers at Cranmoor 
and Mather have offered sites. 
Andrew Searls, F. J. Hoffman, 
J. W. Fitch, C. M. Seeker, A. B. 
Roberts were appointed to make 
the best arrangements possible. 
Assistant Dean Morrison of 
the Agricultural College was 
present to learn the growers’ 
views as to the value of the 
station and many growers told 
how highly they valued Mr. 
Malde’s services. Mr. Crane- 
field’s talk on the value of a 
cranberry exhibit at the State 
Fair as an advertising oppor- 
tunity was very convincing and 
the committee appointed last 
January of C. M. Seeker, C. R. 
Treat, 0. G. Arpin and J. W. 
Fitch will have charge of it. 
The Sales Co. voted 3250.00 
towards the expense of same. 
In addition to the regular ex- 
hibit of growing vines festoons 
and plates of berries, a demon- 
stration of how to cook cranber- 
ries and the serving of properly 
cooked berries will be in charge 
of Mrs. S. N. Whittlesey. It is 
earnestly urged that all growers 
compete for the prizes on cran- 
berries which the fair manage- 
ment has so liberally awarded 
for this branch of Horticulture. 
The date for the January meeting 
was changed to the first Tuesday 
after the first Monday in Jan- 
uary. Funds were voted from 
this years state aid to complete 
the pumping experiment at 
Mather. 
Beneficial Ex peri men t a I ion. 
Prof. Franklin at Massachusetts 
State Bog Doing His Best 
When the state of Massachu- 
setts established a state cran- 
berry exeriment station at Fast 
Wareham, it recognized the im- 
portance of the industry to the 
state and the necessity of sicen- 
tific investigations of the prob- 
lems which enter into the grow- 
ing of cranberries. 
When Dr. H. J. Franklin was 
designated to take charge of it, a 
wise choice was made for he has 
proven an earnest investigator 
with a scientific turn of mind who 
works hard and laboriously, not 
only to successfylly carry on the 
work of the experiment station, 
but also to further the interests 
everywhere. Dr. Franklin’s 
duties are dual. First and fore- 
most he is expected to conduct 
experiments and to inform the 
growers of the results. Second, 
he is the superintendent of a 
cranberry bog and as such has 
charge of its upkeep and has to 
pick, pack and market the crop. 
To this extent the state is in the 
cranberry business. A certain 
amount of revenue is derived 
from the product of the bog each 
year and this amount, be it 
greater or less, goes to pay the 
costs of further investigation. 
An experimental bog, to be of 
full benefit to the owners, should 
not be conducted as a commer- 
cial enterprise. Its continuance 
should not be dependent upon 
the revenues received from it. 
It is impossible to conduct some 
experiments without running the 
risk of spoiling a portion of the 
crop. The fear of this should 
not prevent the experiments 
from being made. If anything 
can be learned from such work 
the fact that there is a certain 
risk involved should not be 
permitted to be considered. 
