Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1899-10-05
TIE CRANBERRY HARVEST,
This Season Prosperous One For Prac-
ticalIy Every Grower in Wood County.

on our streets TO-DAY by his luStlInT
activity, by the numerous mail orders
he carries in hand for the fruit which
his marshes have produced in large
crops proportionate 10 The acre invest
ment and the yield of other years.
His purse is bulged with the golden
reaping and his success is directly felt
in business circles. The picker, trans
porter, the merchant and the commu-
nifty have all been benehted more or
less by good crop with good profits.
Exact statistics of the yield are not
yet at hand, but can probably be given
within another week. The Spafford
and Trahern marsh at Walker yielded
about 1900 barrels: Searls Brothers
harvested 400 barrels: Lipke and
Williams marsh 800 barrels; POmaiI
vile and Briere at City Point between
100 and 1900 barrels.
E. j. Dean, special correspondent
to the Chicago Record, whom the
REPORTER mentioned locally week
before last, was recent guest of w.
II. Fitch at CranmOor for two or three
days and while there took copiouS
notes of the cranberry industry. Mr.
Dean sent an extended report of his
observations to the Record, a part of
which was published by that paper
We clip the following with due credit
to Mr.. Dean:
There is probably no business today
in the farming line in Wisconsin that
pays so well DIS raising cranberrieS.
a. G.. Bennett & Son, whose cranberry
marsh is five miles north of Cranmoor,
raised, this season, on seventy acres,
,, 400 barrels of cranberrieS, which are
now gathered and in their StOrehOuSe,
and, il sold at present prices, would
bring about SD, 900, and as the eX-
penSes of raising the 2,400 barrels
would not exceed $1,000, he will realize
a good profit.
All other cranberry growers in this
district have done propOrtionately well
this season. GaynOr-B Blackstone com
pany, 1,600 barrels on thirty acres,
G.. E. Lester & Co., 800 barrels on
twenty acres: Arpin Cranberry COM
pany. 1000 barrels on thirty acres:
w. III. Fitch & Son, ninety barrels on
two and One-half acres.
1t is familiar sight to see several
hundred boys and girls, Indians and
whites, down on their knees, Scraping
in dOuble-handfulS from the vines into
tin pans. buckets and baskets, seventy
five to 100 bushels an acre. Tanning
mills, made for the purpose, clean off
grass or other refuse and aSSOrt into
two or three grades. The sight causes
the observer to jump at the conclusion
that here on these marshes OF WiScOn-
sin, which can be bought in the raw
state at dollar or two an acre, is the
place to get rich.
This is an ideal year. Never such
crop before has been grown or gath
cred in better shape. w. III. Fitch,
secretary of the Wisconsin State Gran
berry Growers association. sums up
the drawbacks thus: Il. The most
serious drawback is the winter killing
the vines. If there be sufficient snow
on the vines they will survive the
winter: or if they be covered with
water. The second drawback is the
blight, and this is term applied to
all blossoms that fail to mature fruit.
One large grower-Mr. Gaynor-esti
mates his loss this season from that
alone to be 600 barrels out Of possible
2,200 barrel crop. He believes the
blight was caused by leaving the water
over the vines after the buds had be-
gun to open.
The next drawback is the insects
grasshoppers, fire worms and fruit
worms, like worms in apples.
"The fifth drawback is early frOStS
in the fall. There has been some
damage this season, but SO inSignit
can't that it is hardly worthy of men
tiOn.
"FOrest fires are the sixth drawback
but the danger to the crop from forest
fires diminiSheS each year.
lizard times is the seventh draw
back. CranberrieS are luxury and
when times are hard sales fall off and
prices decline"
The crop of this cranberry district
which is about two miles wide and
seven long, is nearly all in the cram
berry houses. At the lowest estimate
the net profit this season will be at
least 800 an acre.
Judge John A. GaynOr Of Grand
Rapids is largely interested in cram
berries and is an authority on the
subject. He says that northern Wis
conSin has produced more wild cram
berries than any equal area on the
globe and they are the best of the kind
of any in the world. 1.-The dry sea-
son." he said, ''of 1893, "a and 80
and forest fires that prevailed swept
out 80 per cent of wild vines and since
then the great bulk grown have been
planted vines. Wisconsin maintains
experiment stations for the purpose Of
collecting and cultivation Of cranber-
rieS and distributing information to
cranberry growers ROtanically the
cranberry grown here is the American
cranberry and is different from any
other grown. There are three leading
species of cranberries in Wisconsin and
the Wisconsin berry eXCelS the east
elm berry. although it belongs to the
same species 1t has been longer cul-
tivated in Massachusetts and New
Jersey, but the finest varieties are
found here. There are only two spe-
cies that are grown here that are
marketed Sometimes the other is
gathered at experimental stations in
Fox river valley and the Wisconsin
river valley. We bring species from
Massachusetts,, Michigan, Washing
ton, Oregon, Alaska, Nova Scotia, Nor
way, Russia, Siberia and Saghalien
island north of Japan. In all we have
collected 40 varieties. The merits we
are experimenting on and hope to pro-
duce new varieties by hybridizing.