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Wisconsin State Cranberry Growers Association / Thirty-eighth annual proceedings of the Wisconsin State Cranberry Growers' Association. Thirty-eighth convention, Pavilion, near Nekoosa, Wisconsin, August 12, 1924. Thirty-eighth annual meeting, Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, January 13, 1925
(1924-1925)
Searles, Andrew
The value of sand, pp. 20-23
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Page 20
20 WISCONSIN CRANBERRY GROWERS' ASSOCIATION splendid Howe vines to Wisconsin. I got one car, and Guy Potter got several. The Howe appears to be a most aggressive vine. Those Eastern men that we met at the Exchange meeting are cor- dial, courteous Cranberry Kings, worthy of our admiration. Mrs. Whittlesey and I did Washington D. C. on our way home, and here we are. THE VALUE OF SAND i By ANDREW SEARLES The first step taken in sanding cranberry bogs was by Mr. Ralph Smith, father of our present secretary, about thirty-five years ago. He had a small field, only about six acres under cultivation at that time. That was the first field that had ever been surfaced and plant- ed on the clean bog. Mr. Smith also showed me a small field of only a few square rods of the most beautiful cranberries I had ever seen, beyond any conception of what a cranberry bog should look like. I resolved that if the time ever came when I could, I should pos- sess a similar cranberry bog. It was perfectly evident that that was the only rational, sensible method to pursue in the growing of cran- berries in Wisconsin. When I got home, I broke that same subject to my brother. What a wonderful piece of cranberry bog that was! But we were under the pursuit, at that time, of a thousand acres of cranberries, and, as my brother said, we couldn't possibly sand one thousand acres, or any part of one thousand acres. None of it was suitable. It was the natural bog, ditched and fitted up as we at that time supposed was the thing to do, without any surfacing, trusting to luck, and believing that we could do what the people had done at Berlin. The next step I saw taken in the cranberry sanding process was attempted by Mr. A. E. Bennett. He had several acres surfaced, and he decided to try the experiment. During the wintertime Mr. Ben- nett drew sand upon this ground, and put on this sand in strips across his field about a rod in width, and, as I remember now, about six inches in depth. He sanded a strip, skipped a strip, and sanded again. At that time it was usually the habit of cranberry men to hold the water well up to the surface. You can imagine what this did to the sand experiment strip. Vines refused to flourish, and we all stood back and looked on and shook our heads. We didn't know just what V was the matter. Maybe Mr. Smith's experiment was wrong. Still we were undecided. Later, John A. Gaynor obtained a small appropriation from the state for experimental purposes. Three experimental stations were started, which later were consolidated into one. They didn't appear to be getting anywhere with three stations scattered out, each man
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