The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1876-09-18

I
mostly saved by dividing it into IS distinct
beds requiring but 1-18 as much waste, while
their disadvantage is to be found in affording
home for insects though dangerous one
for them as by burning the grass upon them
in the night while the vines are flooded they
may be exterminated, millers and moths not
stunning the light, but being attracted byit s
they are by the light of lamp.
In size, uniformity and lustre, seldom see
my berries equalled in Boston markets,
which attribute in great measure to their
presence. At the cranberry house 1 have a
patented machine which takes the berries
from the water, carries them to an upper
story, winnows, thoroughly sorts and nearly
dries them, then delivers them into bin
from which they are run into lattice boxes
and piled high in a well ventilated room to
finish drying and await bnrreliing, or in case
of hurry pile them upon cars and run them
out upon a wooden track to receive the
winds of the day and be run back at night.
All this is done without bruising the berries
in the least, as in their descent they come in
contact with cloth only, and their greatest
perpendicular fall is but one foot. The ca
pacity of the machine is bushel per minute,
though seldom run it as fast, as there is no
necessity for it; if there were ir could be null
tiplied to any reasonable extent. My power is
a IA inch Tyler wheel working under six
foot head and dischargipg "a inches of wafer.
A horse power would do the work in alb.
sence of sufficient water or fall. My men
harvested last fall eleven bushels each per
day, with an average yield of only fifty BUSH
els per acre; had the yield been as good in all
places as it was in some they could have
gathered forty bushels each per day. One
man thought he could rake one half of bed
he was then on if il all had been as well
fruited as part of it was. If so he must
have gathered IS or so bushels. Such a
thing would not be impossible, and that too
without injlring the vines, as by flooding,
the berries leave their hiding places and
arise mostly above the vines, when with
patent rake similar in shape TO common
hand rake, but having short wire teeth near
together one could free the upper berries,
which comprise nearly all, in a moment;
then by inve:ting the rake aud bringing into
play longer set of teeth that incline from
the operator about 45o, he can draw it over
the vines without hitching and free every
berry he touches. In the absence of windrows
l would use two lines of anchored booms,
one in the place of each, and after securing
the berries in the space between them, take
up boom no. /, section by section, and STEP
nil fnrU rd o
water beyond, when it will float to an assis-
tant who will secure it in position, and thus
form a substitute for windrow no. 8.
The assistant has little occasion to walk
about and less necessity to tread upon the
berries, as they are raised from the ground by
the water, while man No. does his walking
upon ground already harvested. The Sec
tions are made thus; take inch boards 6
inches wide and say 20 feet long with a tenon
upon one end of each inches long by 21
inches wide, and near this tenon secure
vertical socket made by mailing crosswise
upon the board and within inches of each
other, 2 cleats inches long, II inches wide,
and II inches thick, and connect them by
mailing upon them similar cleat. At the
other end secure a horizontal socket by
mailing the same kind of ceats in the
opposite direction. The last will serve as
mortice to freely receive the tenon re-
ferred TO in forming continuous line, while
through the former pegs A feet long, inches
wide and one inch thick may be loosely
thrust, and into the ground so as to allow the
boards to rise and fall with the water as it may
vary in depth. Sockets made of thin nail
plate or thick hoop iron bent in the form of
the slide to door latch would be better and
not expensive. When the peg of one section
is taken out of its socket in moving the boom
it may be thrust into the horizontal socket of
the next section when it will float with and
upon it to The assistant, who can thus ar
range them in line very fast. Each section
thus enclosed should have an outlet of its
own, no one of which should ever be open
between the one being used and the cram
berry house, as it would cause counter cur
rent in the main ditch, which would not let
the berries pass freely along.
My outlets are per stocks six feet long,
which should be sunk so low in the center
ditch of each bed as 10 be under water, that
they may never decay; a set of grooves is
| made at their inner end TO which gates are
| fitted. Upon these the dyke is built to a
| point as high as 1 wish to flow for raking, at
| which point l use single flume board, be-
cause the berries will not dive down through
| the penstock. This arrangement sayes using
| aperishable outlet and one likely TO leak
| from the action of the frost. My inlets are
| ten feet long, as l have road over them.
each made of two sides inches thick, 8
| inches wide, covered on the bottom with
| inch plank, and on the top with 8 inch plank
cut 26 inches long, which gives a capacity of
| SKIS inches, gate being set in grooves as in
| the outlet. These are set below low-water
mark to preserve them, which causes the
water in its passage, to dive down on enter
ing and bubble UP on leaving them, yet with
out danger of clogging, as the current keeps
all clear. These can all be operated without
wetting the hands or using a shovel-a very
great advantage, especially in the night.
Last tall (1S75) here in Alfred, Maine, we
had ten frosts between the 11th of Septem-
ber and the first week of October, during two
weeks of which time kept part of mine
flooded, as 1 was afraid to let the water of.
Instead of retarding the coloring of the ber-
ries as expected it to, it seemed to hasten it,
| as by inverting them, their white sides were
turned TO the sun and colOred up quickly, be-
fore the red sides had time to get too ripe for
keeping well. then recolected that nev-
er had seen an unripe cranberry under the
ice in winter though they mad often been
flooded before all were turned. These brought
the best price in Boston market. If the plan
would always work as well, it would save
growers much anxiety at times; for instance,
in the fall of 1874 was for several nights
afraid of frost before morning but did not
feel sure. My reservoir was full of water,
but did not want to use it on an uncertain
ty, as there was drought and couldn't fill
1t again in time for the next night if needed.
So was in trouble: on the one side the sure
| loss of nv wafer on the other the nossihla