The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1903-10-27
our Cranberry Boys.

Not long ago a man in conversation
| with the writer expressed surprise at
being informed that cranberries are
| grown as far south as Indiana and ILL
nois. Y2t the cranberry Is grown over
very wide area OF territory in the
United States and possibly could be
grown much further south than 1t is
at present grown. Massachusetts, New
| Jersey and Wisconsin are the great
cranberry states, exceeding In their
cranberry products all other states.
The figures for. these three states for
the census year 1899 were: Massachu-
sets, 59S,9O6 bushels; New Jersey,
230,221 bushels; Wisconsin, ,09S
bushels. We can appreciate the lead
OF these three states by looking at the
returns OF New York, the next greatest
producer, which grew that year only
1887 bushels. Massachusetts had
SIPS acres in cranberry marsh; New
Jersey, 1856, and Wisconsin 1921. OF
the three Massachusetts had the small
est acreage, but the largest crop, each
acre yielding lit bushels of cranber-
ries, against New Jerseys 20 and Wis
consin's 10.
Altogether 10 states reported cram
berry marshes. They were Connecti-
cut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas.
Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Min
nesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New
Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ore
gon, Rhode Island, South Dakota,
Washington and Wisconsin. But ILL
nois, Iowa, Kansas and South Dakota
reported only single acre each, with
yields of SO, 81, SO and % bushels re-
spectively. Oregon reported six acres,
which yielded at the rate of 119 BUSH
els per acre the best average of all.
New York cranberry marshes yielded
So bushels per acre The Wisconsin
per acre yield of 10 bushels was the
lowest Of all except Maine, which re-
ported an average yield of II bushels
per acre on 80 acres. That cranberries
are grown In man. other states not re.
ported we have no doubt; nor do we
doubt that this delicious and profitable
berry can be grown In large quantities
in the states that now report few
acres.
There are many varieties of cram
berries, only few of which are known
to commerce. The cranberry of COM
merce is known as Vaccinium macro-
carpon, and is native to a narrow belt
OF country along the Atlantic coast,
from Maine to New Jersey and in iso-
lated areas along the Allegheny noun
tains from southern Pennsylvania to
North Carolina. In the central United
States the plant is found in Michigan,
Wisconsin and Minnesota. The sue
cessful commercial developments in
the cranberry industry have generally
been found in localities where the
cranberry occurs as a native plant.
The first paintings of the cranberry
were made in the Cape Cod region of
Massachusetts between 1900 and 1918.
Two species of cranberries grow in
this country. One is the little cram
berry (Vaccinium oxycoccus), which is
Indigenous to sphagnum swamps in
sub-arctic and Alpine regions Of both
Europe and America, and Is also found
growing wild In New England, Penn
sylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan and the
Pacific Northwest. The large or Amer
lean berry (Vaccinium macrocarpon)
is distributed in the nineteen states
mentioned at the beginning of this
article 1t is the species that is being
used as base for the developing Of
new and improved varieties.