The Opelousas courier., 1892-01-02
CAPE COD CRANBERRIEs.
low A PROFITABLE BUSINESS rs
CONDUCTED.

Merriment in the Huts Occupied by
the Pickers-Process of Making q
Cranberry Bog.
Writing about cranberry culture, a
Sandwich iMass.) 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
not of coffee that is simmering on the
bright Goals Of a wood fire. The even
ing meal is none the less enjoyable that
it is served in a tin dipper, and the bread
or simple cake is eaten from the hands.
that have toiled all day regcuing the beau.
tiful berries from the damp and dirt of a
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 boys are near the village, and
the picders 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 a large bog.
Cranberry land should be selected
with three distinct objects in view:
First, to have good drainage; second,
good sand; and third, q good natural
supply Of water to be used in flowing for
frosts and for killing the destructive
fre-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 levelled 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 a 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 to a greater
extent than any other. The vines ale
cut off old boys 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
uishes 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 a
natural state.
1t takes four seasons of constant care
to allow these single vines to cover over
the spaces between the settings. Under
favorable circumstances crop may be
expected at the end Of this tima, varying
from 100 to $50 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 are
uncertain unless he can prevent the raw
ages of the fire worm, which is liable to
destroy a crop in the spring unless the
bog can be flooded with water. This
has to be done twice in a season il 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 of
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 3
machine is sometimes used which scoops
the berries from the vines. An average
picker, with the hands alone, can plcl
thirty measures Of six quarts each q day
for which they receive ten, cents pc
measure or three dollars. WITH tn
assistance of the machine as high as ont
hundred measures have been picked IN |
day. The manipulating does not destroy
the vines as much as the machine, and i
therefore preferred.
The original cost Of the land used is
about SS25 per acre, and the cost Of con-
structing the bog is usually not more
than $500. The yield Of 100 barrels o
berries to the acre Is not uncommon
and these will sell at ID average price q
7.5U a barrel. Some years the prize
rises to $40 and over. The cost pc
barrel for picking is not over S1.67. ane
the barrel and commission for market
inQ not over 80 cents. The cost PEI
acre of bog IS about $50 a year.
ii is q most interesting sight to the
city people on the Cape, who drive about
in September nov and then, to come oa'
on the edge Of d large cranberry bog,
where may be seen hundrel r Of men
women and children scattered over th.
purple-gseen field, some on tilelr knees
others standing still, others enptyin'
their measures into bright new barrels
women with old-fashioned poke bonnet