The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-09-02
Cranberries Are Ripe

(By New Haven's Press Bureau)
 Down on Cape God they are getting
 ready to harvest the famous cranber-
 ry crop In some places picking has
 already begun Hundreds of brown skinned Portuguese are now bending
 over the bogs in Plymouth and Barn
 stable counties picking the ripe, red
 berries and packing them in barrels
 for shipment to all parts of the coun-
 try to be made into delectasble sauces
 and cranberry pies
 All indications would seem to point
 this year to the biggest crop on rec
 ord since the experime ent was made of
 cu1tiVating the wild berries found by the early colonists on this curious spit
 of sand running out into the sea- Last years crop amounted to over
 125,000 barrels, a considerable in
 crease over that of the previous year, and to move this crop required 1000 freight cars. It is estimated that probably 1,50o cars will be needed to move this years crop and its value should run well over $1,OO0,o00.
 The transportation Department of the New Haven road has already made it's arrangements for collecting and
 distributing for the country's con- sumption the berries for which Cape Cod hasFnow become famous. The cranberry bogs are scattered all over the cape itself and in Plymouth coun- ty, and almost every little station on the Old Colony lines in that section has to have it's cars for loading cran- berries when the picking season is on-
 Under the arrangements perfected by the Transportation Department of the New Haven the loaded cars on the various lines will be picked up once a day and collected at Middle boro. At Middleboro the Cranberry Special will be made up. This will run every day between Middleboro nd InaUiner Midd1ahnrn a q P. M. At Taunton the cranberry cars will be attached to the regular fast freight trains from the West via the Harlem River and Maybrook gate ways and for Canada via Concord | Junction. New York City will get it's cranberries by way of the Fall River line and Boston's cranberries win | come chiefly from points along the 1 South Shore between Duxbury and MarshfieId.
 Tn order to be ready to move this seasons crop of cranberries the New | Haven has been collecting empty cars and refrigerator equipment and stor- ing them at MfddIeboro and Myricks. Here they are cleaned and put into proper shape for receiving the cram berries and from here they are sent to the different stations IS the car orders come in from the agents. As usual, Chief Train Despatchers, yardmasters, and agents have been instructed to give the cranberries prompt handling.
 Cranberries represent an agricultd- ral speciality in which New England has secured pre-eminence. Only New Jersey and Wisconsin really attempt to compete with the Cape Cod berries. but the latter are generally recognized as surpasSing all others now in qua1- ity New Jerseys crop last year amounted to about 10000 barrels. but this was not as large a crop as the previous year, whereas the Cape Cod crop showed a decided increase. Wisconsin's crop amounted to about Az, 1000 barrels
 The bogs where the Capt Cod Der ries are grown now cover over 5000 acres: To those not familiar with it, it is a curious industry, the cultivation of this tart, wild berry, whose possi- bilities were first discovered by the Pilgrim fathers. Across this low, sandy stretch of country one can now see hundreds of these bogs. Ieve1' patches of green in the early summer, turning to red as the berries ripen fall, and crossed by many dykes through which they let in the water to flood the bog if a. heavy frost is imminent. Thus they. save the vines from being killed, and it is for this reason you always find cranberr1es near a water supply. Some of the growers own as many as 3OO acres of bogs and have laid out ex- tensive canals and irrigation schemes, large investm ents. Low, land is needed for a cranber- ry bog and the clearing of this often much labor, as not only do all the trees and stunps have to be removed but the turf also. This is generally used to build the dykes to hold back the water Once this is done a layer of sand, from four to six inches deep, is put on and then the vines are set out Usually there is a crop by the third year.