The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1919-08-26
sEMI-CENTENNIAL MEETING.

SEMl-CENTENNIA MEETING.
The New Jersey Cranberry Grow
ers' Association held its fiftieth meet
ing, Saturday, at Pemberton. Tn
place selected for the event was tn
elegant lawn attached to the residenc
of Theodore Budd, grandson of one o
the original members of the associa
ton. There was a large attendant
and great interest was shown in al
of the proceedings.
DR.. Durell, president, who is ad
vanced in years, said he did not fee
equal to the task of presiding and h
called vice president Makepeace to tn,
chair.
DIR. Durell read his annual address!
in which he referred to the early in
dustry of cranberry culture. The time
was when the supply was limited tt
the wild berries but as the knowledge
of the fruit grew and extended it be-
came necessary to exclude the wild
berries and the question arose whether
the situation would be improved if the
berries were cultivated. The first at
tempts in this direction were few and
on a small scale, with many failures
The first man to start cultivating in
this section was Benjamin Thomas who
tried his luck at Retreat in 1885. 1t
required many experiments to decide
what kind of land was best adapted
to the berry culture, and it was fin
ally decided that swamp land was the
only kind that would give good re-
turns. In 1865 to 1867 Thomas prof
its on 120 barrels of berries were
$5O5.
After so years of extensive prac-
tice DIR. Durell expressed the opinion
that the industry is still in its incipi-
ency and that the amount of knowl-
edge to be gained is still beyond con-
ception. He recalled the many i'm
provements that have been made in
the machinery that is used in the
preparation of cranberries for the
market and predicted that the advance
on the future would be greater than
had been noticed in the past.
The vice president greeted the mem
bers and expressed his pleasure in see
ing so many at the meeting, showing
that the interest in the association and
the industry it represents is not wan
ing.
A j. Rider, secretary of the asso-
citation, read his address. He said he
had been notified that his subject was
to be 'NThe history of cranberry cul-
ture" He did not think, however
that he would confine himself to that
particular feature. Usually activities
cease after a certain time, but some
thing has contributed to the long life
and activities of this industry. This
association is the aftermath of poor
speculation. To enumerate problems
as well as to try and probe into the
future would be a wearisome task. He
spoke of the daylight saving idea and
the repeal of the measure. He was
glad that Congress had it's eyes open
ed at last. He had always had great
admiration for President Wilson but
he felt that the chief executive had
been ill-advised when he vetoed the
bills that had been passed. One of the
achievements that the association had
accomplished was the securing of hon.
est packing and measure. Barrels OF
uniform size, crates that could not be
criticised and methods for cleaning
and sorting berries are among the
things that have been done to bring
the cranberry business into great
favor all over the land. He felt that
it was very appropriate that this
meeting should be held where the as
ISOLATION first originated. Pemberton
township produces more berries than
any other township in New Jersey and
Burlington county produces probably
as much as all other counties COM
bined. "And that" said the speaker,
"is about the only good you can say of
Burlington county" He then went
into a dissertation of the "rottenness'
of this county, which is alluded to
elsewhere.
George Holman, one of the extensive
growers of Ocean county, was the next
speaker. He was called upon unex-
pectedly to him as it had been an
nounced that Judge Wells was to
speak at this point of the programme
Mr. Holman told of the experiences of
cranberry growers in Ocean county
and made some very amusing remarks
He recalled the names of Van Hise
and "Eph." Empson, and said that the
latter was, in addition to being sue
cessful cranberry grower, politician
He said that it was common remark
that when Empson had a good cram
berry crop he would have successful
campaign and that the cranberries
would furnish the "juice" for the
work. So he advised those in the
cranberry business to take up poll.
tics as side issue or else that those
in politics get into cranberries anc
make the Juice" for their campaigns
Joseph ]. White, Burlington coun
tvs cranberry king" was then called
upon. He said he had long since turn
ed over the details of his business tt
his children and they manage the en-
tire affair 1t would be embarrassing
to enumerate the blunders that haC
been made and he would turn the sub
ject over to Frank S. Chambers, VIII
had not been in the business long
enough to give any damaging evi
dence.
Mr.. Chambers said it was a yer,
good business and a very excellen
man who could get up and say that h
had not made any blunders. The mail
thing was to try and get along wit
the minimum amount of errors. H
doubted if there were any plante
bogs before the association was form
ed. Barclay White, father of JOSEF
j. White, was an early grower an
started on Wading River, in 1850. l
1870 R. B. Lamb operated the Rak
Pond ground In 1857 James A. Fer
wick purchased $50 acres and it wa
in connection with this enterprise ths
Joseph J.. White began his work. A
the age of 20 years the latter bega
to study the cranberry and to endeavc
to improve the fruit so that instea
of its being merely local commodit