The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1899-09-28
A BIG BERRY CROP.
cherryheid Families Feel Pro.reroas-
Something Like $4,000 Bushels she
output This season.


Now for q little rain and the people Of
this hustlIng town Will be abundarlty
satisfied. The scarcity Of water In the
Naraguagus river is at present the only
fly in CherfyHsid's ointment. With d
une bluebsrry season Just ended, splen.
did new industry. the pants factory start
ing It's wheels In motion Tuesday. great
cattle ranch In prospective and the
promise Of an exoellent lumber season
ahead, why should not CherryfieId be
satisfied and view with an air Of com
miseration less favored Iocalitiesg
Business in general is excellent 10 Cher
rytleid, as business man remarked to
the Commercial correspondent, "Why we
have had good fortune In everything that
makes business. The tine blusberry crop
has put lots Of money just where IL was
most needed and there IL hardly desfi.
tute person in the village. The lumber
prospects are splendid and this means
employment during the winter monthr
to scores or men. Certainly business is
good in Cherryfield.
The blueherry season just ended has
been In many respects tho mostssucceesfuI
ever known in Cherryfisld and Vicinity.
1t Is business which Ia carried ON no.
where in ths state outside Of Washington
county and is the means Of very mate
rally assisting many poor people to make
a livelihood. There are two canning fac
tories in this village, that OF j. & K. A.
Wyman s. Co, and that OF A. l.. Stuart.
The former firm this year put up ahout
1000 bushels and the latter 1000.
At Columbia Falls, the pack from the
factories Of ]. A. Coffin. CT Machias. and
A. Il. Logic Of New Brunswick, was of
about the same size as that In this village.
tho former firm possibly putting up q
little more than half. The factory Of Burn
ham s. Morrill, Of Portland, which is Iocat-
ed at Harrison, put up something le 81
than 10000 bushels. Thus the aggregate
OF the output OF the five factories will not
fall far below 50,00U bushels, or enough
to furnish blueberry pies for the whole
country.
Ths factories at Columbia Falls ended
their seasons work, Saturday night
Thoss In this village suspended opera
tions week earlier as the berries ON the
lower plains got frost hittsn In the cold
snap along the second week Of September
There are several causes for congratula-
tlors over the outcome OF the biusherry
canning OF the present sum mer. One Is
that practically all the berries were sold
while yet on the bushes. This was per-
haps owing largely to the scanty sup ly
OF the two preceding years when the de-
mand was far from supplied owing to the
poor berry season, the weather being very
unpropitious to the growth. 1t should
net be forgotten, however, that the
business of canning blueberries in Wash
ington county has grown with good,
wholesome. steady growth since first un-
dertaken nearly 80 yesrs ago. That first
venture in 1870 was productive of a splen-
did industry tor Washington county and
an industry that has not yet been seen
at its best, as many thousands OF bushels
were lost through the inability TO handle
them at the proper SEASON. 1t Is fair
estimate that fully quarter OF the berries
In the vicinity were not gathered al
though many thousands Of bushels were
shipped fresh In addition to those canned.
Another source of congratulation Is the
employment which was given to many
needy families by which they were en-
ubled TO have profitable work for some. six
or eight weeks of the season and put by
few dollars against a rainy day.
Berry-pioking is fairly remunerative.
The land is generally leased from the
owners by individuals who employ their
own pickers. The pay of the latter
stances, but a fair average Ia about two
cents quart. VERY few pick by hand
rake being generally used, and skill
full raker can I'LL his basket very rapidly
without bruising the berries. individuals
have been known to PICK some nine or
ten bushels day but this was urder the
most favorable conditions and Is rarely
accomplished. Two or three bushels Is
considered a good days work. Berry
time is one of the occasions when a large
family is an aid to riches. The man who
nan set large number OF children at
work becomes quits Croesus by the end
of the season. During the recent season
the work OF one lessee and "a family
which he employed earned $500, while
several families made 500 to $3.50 in
three weeks.
A large proportion of the berries canned
in this village are grown on what is
known as "Tne Barrens" which are sit.
uated partly in the upper part of Cherry
field but mostly in the Deighboring VIII
lage of Deblois 1t Ia this land that fig
ures in the cattle ranch scheme which has
for thu past W eek figured quite largely in
the III aine papers and has caused a good
deal of comment everywhere.
IL will be remembered that according
TO the report as printed, New York and
western capitalists, who are said to be
practical cattlemen with plenty of funds
behind them, have secured some $1,000
hcfSS oi iduu IN tnls county inciuul1g
1.-THE Barrens'' above mentioned and will
place some 1900 head of cattle thereon
and go into stock raising on d scale
that is gigantic as compared with any
such previous undertaking in the sta te
of Maine.
Upon making inquiries concerning the
authenticity of this report In this village,
the Commercial correspondent found utter
Ignorance of anything save the newspaper
reports. which furnished the residents OF
Cherryfeld their first information on the
subject, and many of the business men
were inclined to brand the whole scheme
as the creation Of some reporters fancy.
1.-THE Earrensh are almost ~hoiiy owned
by William Freeman of Cherrytisld and
the Commercial sought some information
from him ON the subject Mr. freeman
stated that he did not feel ut liberty to
talk freely ON the matter, but contented
himself with saying that 1t was possib BILE
that something Of Tie sort mentioned
might he brought about He was certain
that 1.-The Barrens' would afford an ex-
celient grazing ground for many thousand
head OF cattle and said that years ago
a