The Kootenai herald. [volume] (Kootenai, Idaho) 1891-1904, 1901-11-22
SAUCE FOR THE TURKEY.
How Cranberries Are Raised and Pre-
pared for Market

How Cranberries Are Raised and Pre-
pared for Market
Turkey and cranberry sauce! BY force
of long association and the eternal fitness
of things, the two go naturally together.
What is one without the other, or
Thanksgiving day without both? And so
to make the 2,000O00 turkeys required
for the national feast more palatable
500. 900 barrels Of cranberries are raised
on the marshes of Cape Cod and New
Jersey. To be sure not all of these are
eaten on Thanksgiving day, but fairly
large proportion of them are, and it Is
the almost universal use Of the tart little
berry on Thanksgiving that has led to the
present wonderful extension of the bust
ness. The business Of raising cranberries
Is peculiar one in all its aspects. 1t re-
quires q special kind of ground, consid-
cradle capital and a vast deal of labor,
and it is a special trade, more or less ir-
regular in its returns, like all of its kind.
1t is the chief industry of two sections of
this country, where nearly all the cram
berries used in America and Europe are
raised, and which it has transformed
from waste bog lands into rich farming
communities.
The land on which cranberries will
flourish is seldom fit for anything else.
In the state in which it is usually found
it requires about $500 per acre to make
1t fit, so that the transformation Of
swamp into productive cranberry bog
makes 1t a very valuable piece of prop
erty. The first requirement is a peat bot
tom. This is dressed by spreading over
it coating of seashore sand, into which
the slips are stuck and left to grow at
their own sweet will In connection with
the bog there should be an irrigating
ditch or a reservoir, from which it can be
flooded at any time. 1t requires several
years to determine the worth of a marsh
for producing cranberries, and the slow
ness of returns, together with the amount
Of capital required, has brought all the
largest marshes into the control of stock
companies.
1t requires hand labor throughout to
raise cranberries. The chief expense. once
the crop is started, is in the picking.
which is largely performed by women
and children, who receive from one to one
and half cents per quart for the work,
and are able to earn from 70 cents to 81
per day through the season.
AS fast as the berries are gathered by
the pickers they are measured out by the
boss" and unless they are to 90 at once
to market are packed away in boxes for
storage. This packing is done in what
is called 'chaff," the moss and leaves
picked up in the field, in boxes with slat-
ted sides to allow a free circulation OF
the air. In this way the berry "sweats'
without decaying, and will keep for a
long time. When the berries are to be
marketed they are screened. The screen
is like an old-fashioned tanning mill and
serves the double purpose Of removing
the chaff and sorting the berries.
England takes thousands of barrels OF
American cranberries every year. and tn,
West has become a great market fol
them on account of the scarcity of Other
small fruits. At present more cranber
ries are sold in Chicago than in New
York or any other Eastern city. Gran
berries are not injured by freezing, anC
so it is an easy matter to ship them il
cold weather. They are often sent a.
far as Manitoba in ordinary open boz
cars