Lyon County times. [volume] (Silver City, Nev.) 1874-1907, 1894-10-27
FARM Notes.
How Cranberries are Harvested.

Did you ever see cranberry bog?
Imagine a broad, level surface,
winding in and out among the hills
like lake, but green as meadow.
From a swamp of huge cedars, such
as had once covered the site of the
bog itself, little stream ran down
through the center of the plain. At
intervals, banks of earth crossed
the bog at right angles to this
stream, in which sluiceways were
set, so that the bitches that divide
each section, like a chess-board,
could be filled, or the whole bog
could be turned into lake. The
vines must be carefully defended
from the fiost, and this system of
flooding accomplishes the purpose
perfectly. When the berries are
ripening in the Fall, the thermom-
eter is carefully watched by those
in charge of the fields. Should
the mercury fall to "a degrees Fahr-
enheit, the water is at once let in
SO as to partly cover the vines;
should it fall even degree lower,
the whole field is at once complete
ly submerged. The vines are par
ticularly subject to the attacks of
insects, worms and grubs, in the
Spring, and when these pests APP
pear the meadows are flooded and
the creatures drowned.
In the older portions Of the bog,
the vines covered the ground like a
thick carpet, several inches deep;
but some parts, just set out this
Summer, showed that they planted
only one vine about every two and
a half feet each way, and from these
all the others spread. A popularity
of the vine is that if you scatter
br oadcast, without any sort of care,
bits of the vine, six or eight inches
long, the cuttings will take root
and grow just as if you had planted
them. The vine seems to love the
water, somehow, though it will
thrive in such arid soil. In order
that the crop shall be a success, the
whole meadow ought to lie well I'M
der water from the beginning to
the close of the cold season.
Down among the vines the berries
lie, half hidden by their tiny ever
green leaves. After the dew had
evaporated a little, the pickers
started to work. Each was given
"a row." space from two to three
feet wide, and generally reaching in
length from the edge of the bog to
the main ditch. Each picker has
square box with an iron bail,
holding peck. The pickers get
down upon their knees, place the
box in front of them, and scoop up
the berries with their hands. AS
they pick space, the box is moved
along. Overseers keep close watch
that no berries are left by the pick
er, as the vines are gone over but
once.
When the box is filled, the pick
er either calls an overseer, or car
ries it himself to a spot on the bank
where team can easily drive in,
and where large number of empty
crates are piled. Here his berries
are emptied into the crate, and he
is given a check, or "peck ticket"
-Four of these peck-tickets are ex-
changed for bushel-ticket and
these are cashed at fifty cents a
bushel Oftentimes, when a relia-
BILE name is on them, these tickets
pass current as small change, and
very large growers have from $4,000
to $4,000 out in. these promises to
pay, Some of the pickers will reach
three or four bushels in a day; but
two bushels is considered good
days work, and the women often
pick more than the men.-From
"Where Red Cranberries GroO;;"
DemoreSt's Magazine for November.