Page 24

24 WISCONSIN CRANBERRY GROWERS' ASSOCIATION
ures appear to be, to a large measure, impracticable. Control meas-
ures for the principal sources of loss have been worked out by the
Wisconsin Experiment Station and those of other states but for their
value depend on an accurate observation and appraisal of conditions
in the bogs from month to month and from year to year. No one
thinks of flooding for the blackheaded fireworm, for example, unless
that worm is present and, in the same way, there is no reason for
rushing cranberries to the market at the beginning of the season to
avoid storage rots, if the outlook is that the berries may be kept in
a healthy condition until or into the winter.
For this reason the plan of state aid which has been worked out
by the growers is particularly adaptable to your conditions. It con-
templates placing a full time man in the field, trained in entomology,
plant pathology and cranberry growing, to keep in continuous touch
with the insect and fungus conditions on the bogs, see that the grow-
ers are informed, and suggest control measures. The cranberry plant
is one of the smallest with which horticultural and agricultural in-
dustries have to deal, and a determination of the true conditions at
any time requires a series of detailed observations and a concentra-
tion which the grower himself during the busy season is not in a
position to give.
As you know, the preliminary test of this plan, made two or three
years ago, proved its practicability in every respect. Incipient fire-
worm outbreaks were detected and, in every case but one, satisfac-
torily eradicated through the cooperation of the growers. The small
amount of work which was done that season appears to have in-
creased the cranberry crop here in the amount of several thousand
barrels, paying large dividends on the small state investment in the
project.
If the growers are thoroughly back of a plan of this kind I have
every confidence that the legislature will provide the necessary funds.
The fact that there were difficulties in the way two years ago is no
reason for discouragement as conditions were peculiar and unfortun-
ately the sponsor of the measure was in the hospital at a very criti-
cal stage in the proceedings. The Finance Committee will wish to
be convinced of the thorough sincerity and the overwhelming support
of the growers and of the practicability and definiteness of the plan.
If a delegation from the association is unanimous in supporting it
and brings out the importance of the measure to state prosperity, you
can be assured of every courtesy.
The proposal at this time is particularly fortunate as it works in
with a broader land utilization policy rapidly increasing in favor. Fif-
teen years ago the pendulum was swinging toward extensive refor-
estation projects, and the public favored replanting the land from
which the fine timber was vanishing into the sawmills. The move-
ment, however, seems to have been overdone and as a reaction efforts
have been made for the last decade or more to settle the broad spaces