The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1891-10-28
CAPE COD CRANBERRIES.
HOW A PROFITABLE BUSINESS Is
CONDUCTED.
Merriment i'm the Huts Occupied by
the Pickers-Process of Making a
Cranberry Bog,

Writing about cranberry culture, q
Sandwich (Mass.) correspondent of the
New York Tribune, says.
In the early evening, when the pick
ers come in from the bogs tired and wet,
it is a picturesque sight to see men and
women, some in bright colors and others
in faded grays that have become artistic,
group themselves about the camp fire
looking with longing eyes at the huge
pot of coffee that is simmering on the
bright Goals of wood fire. The even
ing meal is none the less enjoyable that
1t is served in a tin dipper, and the bread
or simple cake is eaten from the hands
that have toiled all day rescuing the beau
tiful berries from the damp and dirt of
bog. They sleep well, and are up early
at work on the lines laid out across the
bog, for as they are paid by the measure
and not by the day, they are free to be-
gin the day at any hour they please.
Many bogs are near the village, and
the pickers return to their homes. But
those a half dozen miles distant have
their camps and their little communities.
Frequently whole families shut up their
houses and move into shanties built on
the edge of large bog.
Cranberry land should be selected
with three distinct objects in view:
First, to have good drainage; second,
good sand; and third, a good natural
supply of water to be used in flowing for
frosts and for killing the destructive
tire-worm. When swamp is found that
has these requirements the brush and
trees are cleared off and burned. The
top sod is turned over and the tree
stumps taken out, the land leyelled and
drained by deep bitches dug in the plot
around the edge and through the centre.
This work having been completed, the
bog is ready for sand, which should be
of coarse quality put on evenly over the
entire surface, from four to six inches
deep. The bog is now ready for the
vines, which are of various varieties,
the carly black being raised 10 a greater
extent than any other. The vines are
cut off old bogs and are set out from
twelve to eighteen inches apart in reg
ular order, by men who work on their
knees with an iron paddle, pushing the
vines down into the plot, which fur
nishes moisture for the plants while
roofing. The sand keeps the heat of the
sun and warns the plot underneath.
This combination of heat and moisture
makes the vine thrive as it never did in
natural state.
1t takes four seasons of constant care
to allow these single vines to cover over
the spaces between the settings. Under
favorable circums tances a crop may be
expected at the end of this time, varying
from 100 to 100 barrels of fruit per
acre.
One of the most expensive parts of
cranberry culture is keeping the bog
free from weeds and marsh grasses
which grow freely in the moist, warm
sand, and if allowed to remain in many
cases obstruct the growth of the vines,
and in some cases destroy the bog. This
work of caring for the vines is done by
men and women who work with hoes
among the settings the first season, after
which the labor is done with the hands,
as the runners which begin to grow must
be disturbed as little as possible.
The cranberry growers prospects arc
uncertain unless he can prevent the raw
ages of the fire worm, which is liable to
destroy crop in the spring unless the
bog can be flooded with water. This
has to be done twice in season if the
worm appears. Otherwise the fruit is
destroyed and the foliage looks as
though a fire had passed over the
ground, leaving the vines a reddish
brown color. Another thing to be care
fully guarded against is early frosts in
spring when the fruit is setting. This
is also offset by flowing the bog with
water.
The grower, having escaped the frosts
and fire worms, begins on September 10
to gather the crop. The bog is lined off
in rows with twine. and the pickers,
men, women and children, of all ages,
gather the fruit from the vines working
along the bog on their knees Most OF /!
the berries are picked by hand, but a |
is sometimes used which SCOOPS |
the berries from the vines. An average |
picker, with the hands alone, can pick |
thirty measures Of six quarts each day, |
for which they receive ten cents per |
measure or three dollars. With the |
assistance of the machine as high as one
hundred measures have been picked in a
day. The hand-picking does not destroy
the vines as much rs the machine, and is
preferred.
The original cost of the land used is
about S25 per acre, and the cost of con-
structing the bog is usually not more
than $500. The yield of 100 barrels of
berries 10 the acre is not uncommon,
and these will sell at an average price of
81. 90 a barrel. Some years the price
rises to $40 and over. The cost per
barrel for picking is not over 81 G7, and
the barrel and commission for market
ing not over 80 cents. The cost per
acre of bog is about $50 year.
1t is most interesting sight to the
city people on the Cape, who drive about
in September now aud then, to come out
on the edge of large cranberry bog,
where may be seen huudre Is of men,
women and children scattered over the
field, some on their knees,
others standing still, others emptying
heir measures into bright new barrels;
women with old-fashioned poke bonuets
md men with bright red flannel shirts.
Here is a group conversing, there boys
ire running about or pestering frogs in
he bitches by the side Of the bog, aud
-onder a smart little fair. haired girl Is
,athering flowers near the dark mass of
woods that invariably skirts the cram
'erry bog. The hum Of voices aud the