Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-11-20
' n

and carefully boxed to make their jour
ney over the New Haven lines 10 every
quarter of the United States when tie
Thanksgiving turkey demands the. &C
compartment OF cranberry sauce.
The cranberry industry is rieh asset
in the prosperity OF this region of the
country. and every available acre OF bog
Is being taken up. for no other !ocaniE
in the United States is so suited by
climate for the production OF the berries
on a large scale. II Is said that. under
present conditions. not every landowner
can get into this industry without ont
side help. Large capital Is needed TO De
velop a cranberry property, but once IL
has begun to bear the returns are Ger.
tain, given three essentials OF peat, SAND
and fiowage.
<
The cranberry grower is more indie
pendent Of the vicissitudes OF nature than
those engaged In almost any other sgri-
cultural pursuit. A crop on a properly
constructed bog cannot be destroyed
either by frost or by insects. II intelli-
gent care is used, for when the danger OF
either occurs the watchful manager has
only to turn the water from the reservoir
into the meadow and thereby submerges
the plants for their own protection.
Thanks to the aid of Department OF
Agriculture and other experts. the cram
berry industry has been developed with
scientific precision. There are cranberry
meadows in some districts where the
vines are allowed to take care of them
selves. subject only to natural fiowage,
and exposed to, the September frosts.
This Is not the case, however, on Cape
Cod. On such property as that OF q
big cranberry company. which has con-
structed at North burberry the largest
bog under single flowage In the world.
on any September evening, when the APP
proach Of frost is suspected the man
ager opens the gates OF the three great
reservoirs OF forty, twenty-five and TWEEN
ty-five acres. respectively. where millions
of gallons Of water are held at levels a
few feet above the meadows. and rapidly
floods the dykes until the water. warmer
than the air, percolating among the roots,
causes q vapor to arise that enraps the
berries I'm protecting shroud and keeps
them safe from the nipping fingers OF
old Jack Frost.
1t is said that practically all OF the ia
vorable locations for bogs in the Cape
Cod region have already been taken up
by enterprising concerns. The traveller
sights the glow Of the vine I'm every
part of the land, from New Bedford or
Boston around to the sandy tip. Walking
among the bush-covered dunes behind
Provincetown. the tourist is surprised
to find little half-acre and acre Dogs be-
hind sheltering hills.
"a
Besides a stream Of water for winter
and autumn foundations, the prospective
cranberry grower must discover a gen.
orally level tract that has an underlying
structure Of peat or black mud. prefer
ably the former. since the mud is apt
to be too cold for the best growth Of the
|. plants. Ample sand-a condition ideally
met in the Cape Cod region-is another
absolute necessity. When the bog is first
constructed layer of four to ten inches
is made. upon which the cuttings from
older vines are forced down until their
ends rest Tn the peat beds underneath.
The sand holds the suns heat and thus
protects the vines against the GOODNESS OF
the mass of peat. 1t Is the custom every
two or three years to sand bog.
Everywhere on the Cape" said a
member of the scientific corps Of the De-
the profitableness of the industry when II
is scientifically conducted. bog must
be one Of the best paying real estate IN
vestments in the country. Thus. an acre
of bog in Plymouth county yielded a net
Of S955.5O; bog Of five and five-eighths
acres for thirteen consecutive years
yielded over 600 barrels annually and
earned for its owner SO day net profit
during the entire period A bog of eleven
acres yielded 5000 annually for the past
three years; a bog Of ten acres paid for
itself in three years; bog OF forty-fve
acres paid for itself seven times in
typical instances of the profit in growing
cranberries.''
An idea OF the extent to which the
holiday berry is now grown may be
CLEANED from the statement that the New
Haven railroad forwards over 100000 bar
rels to every part OF the country in the
course OF a single season. The pie-mak-
ing firms say that the call Tor cranberry
pies and tarts has increased enormously
of late and all out of proportion to the
demand for other culinary delicacies.