The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-08-01
NORTHERN CRANBERRIES
WISCONSIN BoGs HAVE TfE1G LARG-
EST AREA IN THE COUNTRY.
Uncertainty of the CrOp-PrOtecting
and Picking It-Artificial Meth
OdS-MedIcinaI Uses.


and Picking It-Artificial Meth
Ods-MedicinaI Uses.
! Correspondence New York Post.
| The average epicure who delights in good
/ things in season and out of season, is apt
to think that Cape Cod and the boys of
| New Jersey are solely responsible for the
production of the bright red berries that
make the tOothsome sauce for the Thanks
giving turkey; but if he ever rides through
the northern and central counties of Wis
consin in the growing or harvesting season,
he may witness sights that will revolution
ize his ideas about cranberries and cranber-
ry culture Wisconsin has in these counties
over a million and a half acres of the finest
cranberry bog in the world, and on these
extensive marshes the cranberries grow
th1ckly and naturally, producing berries of
unusual size and deliciousness. 1t is said
that the Jersey and Cape Cod cranberries
control the European markets; but the Wis
consin berries control the markets of both
Europe and America
There is figuring on the Wisconsin crop,
and this very uncertainty of the output
makes Eastern dealers doubtful about the
prices they will receive for the berries.
Some years frost or dry weather will scat
ter ruin over the millions of acres of cram
berry Dogs, and Wisconsin will come to the
front with only thirty thousand bushels of
marketable berries The next season she
may flood the markets with over half a
million bushels. The possibilities of the
enormous acreage of boys are so tremend-
Gus that Eastern growers tremble at the
thought of what might happen to their in
dustry; but they receive a spark of conso-
lation in the light of past experience which
is that the output is never so large as the
amount of land under cultivation would
seem to indicate.
The reason for this is that the climate
of Wisconsin is cold, dry and uncertain,
producing conditions very unfavorable for
the full development and ripening of cram
berries. The vast marshes or boys are
ideally suited to the growth of the berries,
and nearly all that are raised there are
wild plants that were found in the soil
when the first white man settled in the
Northwest. But left to themselves, only a
small portion of the fruit ever reaches ma
turity. The early and late frosts Kill most
of the berries, or make them unfit for use.
1t is only by culture and artificial protec-
ton that they can be saved Most of the
cranberry boys are not brought under Gull
tivation; but if the season favors them the
owners will reap great harvest at little
a depressed condition
IRREGULAR YIELDS
Last season estates that produced a few
years ago thirty thousand bushels did not
yield more than three thousand. The whole
region is just recovering from one Of the
driest and most disastrous summers, in 1896,
known for a long time; but if this season
continues as favorable as it now promises
the crop will be a fair one. When a rain
less summer dries out a Wisconsin cram
berry bog it takes more than one season
to make good the loss. In addition to a
dry season, last summer was noted for it's
many fires. The sparks from passing loco
motives started CONGREGATIONS which
burned up thousands of acres of splendid
cranberry boys. When a Wisconsin cram
berry bog burns up 1t is forever destroyed.
Cranberries will never thrive there again.
The cranberry plants draw their nourish-
ment from the deposits of peat that have
been laid down through successive ages,
and when IRE sweeps over this field 1t
destroys the peat. Consequently in dry
season the owner of a cranberry estate
breads fire more than anything else-not
even excepting killing frost in the ripen-
ing months.
Gradually, however, artificial methods of
preventing fire in dry seasons and frost are
being adopted by the owners, and Wiscon-
sin cranberry-growing will in time become
as systematic that of New Jersey or
Cape Cod: The owners OF large estates are
constructing pumps wind-mills, drains and
reservoirs in such numbers that the water
will soon be under their absolute control.
Water, properly controlled, is the great es-
sential for cranberry-growing. Too much
of it is just as injurious to the plant as
too little.
An ideal bog, according to the Wisconsin
growers ideas, is one where the moisture is
held in the top soil like a sponge. AS you
look at the bogs no water is visible to the
eye; but if you put your foot down, the bog
will yield to the pressure. and the foot
prints will Immediately fill with water.
Sometimes the foot sinks down into the
soft bog two feet, and the stranger becomes
frightened at the soft, sucking sound that
may indicate quicksand or some other
treacherous earthly compound. In the
picking season it is not unusual to see the
men and women walking over the marshes
up to their waists in water and mire, and
when the fields are not flooded the pickers
crawl along their knees in the soft,
spongy, moist bog. The army Of ,pickers
that descend upon the cranberry bogs of
Wisconsin in the fall is composed chiefly
of Poles, Indians and French half breeds.
The Indians are considered the best pick
ers. They never strike and always accept
the prices offered by the overseers. AS a
rule, the pickers earn about dollar per
day and their board. The Indians bring
their lodges and tepees with them, and
strike camp upon the field.
INDIAN HELPERS.
There is one popularity about the Indian
pickers that sometimes proves very costly
to the growers. They will not begin work
until $3.50 a. M, and they promptly knock
off at 4 in the afternoon. No amount of
persuasion or threatening can make them
vary this rule. If killing frost threatens
to come through the night, the owners of
the estates curse the Indians and scurry
around to hire more white pickers. They
know from experience that it is waste of
time to try to get the Indians to work extra
hours. They would see the whole field fro
zen stiff first. The Poles at such times
realize their advantage, and they demand
extra wages for oVerwork which some
times proves almost ruinouS to the owners.
A Wisconsin frost comes up in a hurry.
The Indians are good weather prophets, and
they serve useful purpose in telling the
owners when to prepare for 1t. When word
issues from the lodge of the chief of the
Indians that a frost is approaching, the
cranberry boys are Immediately flooded,
and extra help is employed. If the water
covers all of the berries in time no damage
will happen; but those that are left exposed
will be ruined. The white pickers at such
times labor in the fields with the water
up to their waists, trying to save as many
of the berries as possible.
The Indians were the original discoveries
and owners of the cranberry boys of Wis
consin. Long before the white men APP
peared they gathered the berries for eating
and also for medicinal purposes. They also
made a pOultice of them which is said to
counterfeit the venom Of snakes the poi
son of arrows This cranberry poultice is
do nv ba