100 
WISCONSIN HORTICULTURE 
March, 1918 
CRANBERRY CULTURE 
Edited by Mrs. S. N. Whittlesey, Cranmoor, Secretary Wisconsin 
Cranberry Growers Association 
To the Members of the Wisconsin 
State Cranberry Growers’ As- 
sociation : 
Through the courtesy of Secre- 
tary Cranefield in tendering a 
generous amount of space in the 
Wisconsin Horticulture for cran- 
berry news, the growers have an 
unusual opportunity to ask ques- 
tions — to exchange opinions at 
frequent intervals, and impart in- 
formation along the many lines 
connected with our industry. 
While the secretary was appointed 
to take charge of this cranberry 
corner, it was the understanding 
the members would furnish the 
material. The benefit derived will 
depend largely on your individual 
efforts in giving of your knowledge 
and experience. Without further 
invitation or notice please feel 
these columns are open for your 
use. 
Of late years Pres. Searls has 
had phenomenal success in raising 
good crops. He is ever willing to 
help and has tokl us this month 
his first work in the spring toward 
insuring this success. Mr. Searls 
also writes — “There has been 
some fearful butchering of inno- 
cent plants under the disguise of 
pruning” and suggests a paper on 
this topic by Mr. Whittlesey whom 
he thinks “has this down to a 
science. ’ ’ 
Mrs. S. N. Whittlesey, Sec. 
Water for the Winter Protection 
of Cranberries. 
Andrew Searls. 
The time is wear at hand when 
I think it should be taken oft', so I 
will give you my conclusions. 
When I first took a hand in trying 
to cultivate the cranberry, it was 
the custom to retain the winter 
flood until the first of June, 
keeping everythin under a deep 
covering of water. The reason 
given by growers at that time was 
to hold back, or keep the vines 
from growing and being killed by 
the late frosts in the spring; sc 
of course I did likewise for some 
years. Then I became skeptical 
regarding the wisdom of this prac- 
tice. Upon close observation I 
noticed the wild vines growing in 
our vicinity bore much heavier 
crops of berries when they es- 
caped the late frostes of spring 
and the winter winds and cold, 
having been protected by the win- 
ter snows — than did our vines 
which had been blessed by our 
method of protection. 1 also no- 
ticed the wild vines were not in- 
clined to grow until late in May in 
a normal season. 
Then why keep our vines under 
water so late in the season? The 
cold nights of April and early 
May seemed to do the wild vines 
no harm, as they had not made 
any new growth. I observed our 
vines that had been protected un- 
til the first of June would blossom 
and seemed to promise an im- 
mense crop of berries, but when 
the crop of young berries should 
have shown up, a very large por- 
tion had Hashed. 
About that time we had a very 
dry spring and we were unable 
to keep our vines under water, in 
fact the most of the vines were 
exposed, there only being a few 
inches of water on the ground. 
In season our vines blossomed fine 
and when the season advanced 
showed nearly every blossom had 
produced a berry showing a very 
marked improvement over any 
previous season. About this time 
we had one of our dikes give way 
in April exposing a small field and 
we were able to hold sufficient wa- 
ter to give protection to the vines 
when the new growth took place 
the latter part of May. This field 
showed a very marked improve- 
ment over the other fields in the 
crop yield, being almost entirely 
free from blight. I then revised 
this water question in about this 
fashion. Put on a winter flood 
when the vines need protection, 
and that is usually late in Novem- 
ber, and take it off as soon as win- 
ter is past. 
My usual orders to the caretak- 
ers of the marshes I am interested 
in is — get your flume boards out 
of your flumes before the snow 
and ice begins to melt in March, 
and allow the water to escape as 
it melts, allowing the water to 
drain entirely out of the ditches. 
In this way any frost that may 
be in the bog, will not draw out 
readily, as it will on upland, and 
will usually hold back any vine 
growth unless we have a very 
warm April, and it must he un- 
usually warm when a bog is well 
drained, to cause any movement 
of life in the vines. Should this 
be the case, it is, of course, nec- 
essary to again flood up and hold 
them back, as it is not wise to al- 
low the vines to get under way in 
April or early May. My opinion 
is, the late holding of water on a 
bog weakens the vitality of the 
vine, causing blight of the young 
berries. 
