of them wade in barefooted, others wearing low cowhide shoes, and their feet, at least, are necessarily wet all day long.  In many cases their bodies are thinly clad, and they must inevitably suffer in frosty mornings and evenings and on the raw, cold, rainy days that are frequent in the autumn months in this latitude; yet they go about their work singing, shouting, and jabbering as merrily as a party of comfortably clad school children at play.  How any of them avoid colds, rheumatism, and a dozen other diseases is a mystery; and yet it is rarely that one of them is ill from the effects of this exposure.  As many as 3000 or 4000 pickers are sometimes employed on a single marsh when there is a heavy crop, and an army of such ragamuffins as get together for this purpose, scattered over a bog in confusion and disorder, presents a strange and picturesque appearance.

Indians are not usually as good pickers as white people, but in the sparsely settled districts, where many of the berry farms are situated, it is impossible to get white help enough to take care of the crop in the short time available for the work, and owners are compelled to employ the aborigines.  A rake, with the prongs shaped like the letter V, is used for picking in some cases, but owing to the large amount of grass and weeds that grow among the vines on these wild marshes, this instrument is rarely available.  After being picked the berries are stored in warehouses for a period varying from one to three weeks.  They are washed and dried by being passed through a fanning mill made for the purpose, and are then allowed to cure and ripen thoroughly before they are shipped to market.

From statistics gathered by the American Cranberry Growers’ Association it is learned that in 1883 Wisconsin produced 135,507 bushels, in 1884 24,738 bushels, in 1885 264,432 bushels, and in 1886 70,686 bushels of this fruit.  By these figures it will be seen that the yield is very irregular.  This is owing, principally, to the fact that many of the marshes are not yet provided with the means of flooding, and of course suffer from worms, droughts, late spring or early autumn frosts, and extensive fires started by sparks from the engines on railroads running through the marshes.  These and various other evils are averted on the more improved farms.  So that, while handsome fortunes have in many cases been made in cranberry growing, many thousands of dollars have, on the other hand, been sunk in the same industry.  Only the wealthier owners, who have expended vast sums of money in improving and equipping their property, can calculate with any degree of certainty on a paying crop of fruit every year.

Chicago is the great distributing point for the berries produced in Wisconsin, shipments being made thence to nearly every State and Territory in the Union, to Canada, to Mexico, and to several European countries.  Berries sent to the Southern markets are put up in watertight packages, and the casks are then filled with water, this being the only means by which they can be kept in hot weather.  Even in this condition they can only be kept a few days after reaching hot climates.—­American Magazine.